Stuck in the Middle
by jammie.donut
Summary: What if Cammie chose to atttend Roseville High to make things right with Josh? Zach works for the CoC, but he's falling in love with the Target. Grant's dating Cammie (gasp!) but he starts cheating on her with her bff (gasp!). And Josh? Well, he's losing his girl and fast. Set after LYKY.
1. Prologue

**This is for the disclaimer.**

**Harry Potter: Hey bro. What's your name?**

**Zach: Zach Goode, duh! I'm like the best spy of the century. Oops. Classified information. Forget I said that. Let's just pretend I'm called Harry Potter and I'm a wizard. Oh, and I'm totally cool.**

**Harry: ****_I'm_**** Harry Potter and ****_I'm_**** a wizard and ****_I'm _****totally cool. But it's nice to meet you Harry Potter. Anyways, do you know this series called Gall-gall-gallag-gallag – **

**Zach: It's GALLAGHER, stupid!**

**Harry: Oh. Thanks. Well Hermione threatened to put wart-and-green-face potion into my food if I didn't read it. So do you know who owns all of it?**

**Zach: Well duh! I'm IN that story so of course I know who owns it. It's Ally Carter.**

**And sadly, I think it's going to stay like that.**

**Cammie's POV**

Looking left and right to check the corridor was deserted, I sneak through the library in the dead of night, with only a dim flashlight to guide my way.

"I'm sure it's here somewhere…" I mutter to myself. "Found it!"

I reach out in front of me, to a book that looks so old that it actually freaks me out. It's called: _How to Count Numbers Up to Ten. _I smiled, as the whole shelf swung open to reveal a thin passageway. It isn't a dirty one, full of disgusting cobwebs and dust, because for the past couple of months, I had gone through it about forty times.

As I step inside, the shelf swings back into its original place and I am in pitch darkness. I quickly check my internal clock. _11:45. _I've only got fifteen minutes left. I'd better hurry or Josh will start wondering. Using my hands on the wall as a guide I walk out of Gallagher and come out of a trashcan in an alleyway in the middle of Roseville. I hope Josh won't notice the small stains on my light pink dress. I jump out when I realise there's a boy who's just about throw something in the bin I jumped out of.

He's pretty cute – fine, he's _really _cute. He's got these this dark hair that flops around his eyes really mysteriously and he is _so _tall and muscular that I can't help but grin at what it would feel like in his arms. Best of all, he has these two emerald green eyes that gaze right into your soul. I can't stop staring into them.

_Get a grip, Cammie, _one voice in my head tells me.

_But they're so damn dreamy._

_Look at you. You're freakin' pathetic. You can't even hear what either of you are saying._

_I'll stop staring in one minute._

_No… don't… no… but… what about Josh… _this voice is starting to fade out as my willpower crumbles.

Then he smirks and all my feelings about the boy disappear. He's just another conceited stranger.

**Zach's POV**

The hot girl in the dress hops out the trashcan like she does it all the time. She must be from Gallagher, cos that's the trashcan Mom told me leads into the school. Then I remember my cover and I throw the bag in the trashcan. She's staring at me a little weirdly but I decide to let that pass. I pretend to be staring at her like she's crazy to be stepping out of trash cans. She buys it.

"I… My fucking necklace fell in there so I had to fish it out," she explains and she holds up her necklace. She's so good that I, Zachary Goode, one of the best members of the CoC, almost believe her. Almost. I smirk at her. A flash of annoyance crosses her face but in half a second it's gone again and she's as happy looking as before.

I watch as she tosses back her brown hair so she can put on the necklace properly. Wow. I don't think I've ever seen anything so pretty. The girl hastily turns round the corner.

I spend about 5 mins wondering whether I should follow the girl or do what Mom told me to do: get into Gallagher and plant a bug in Cameron Morgan's room. Mom can wait.

By the time I've come out of the alleyway, I can't see the girl. Saturday night – obviously it's gonna be busy, but I can't see the girl anywhere, and I gotta say, with Mom's skills, I'm brilliant at tailing people.

Then I see a flash of pink and I'm on my way. A few minutes later, the girl stops outside the cinema. She goes inside. I go inside too.

"Josh!" she cries and runs across the foyer.

Then I see _him_.

It's a boy, about the same age, quite tall, with wavy brown hair. He is the kind of guy that girls would call 'fit'. He lifts the girl up and twirls her round. Then he kisses her. They buy their popcorn and some drinks and then walk together, hand in hand into the cinema.

I kick myself. Should've known. No girl as pretty as that would be single. Especially if she was sneaking out of school in a light pink dress on Saturday night. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I walk slowly away, back to work.

**Cammie's POV**

"Josh!" I squeal. "You're here!"

"Well, duh," Josh says. "It's a date with my Cammie. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

He lifts me up and swings me around. Then he kisses me deeply, not desperately or hungrily, but not gently either. He is such a cute boy sometimes. Then he puts an arm round my waist and we go to choose our popcorn and drinks.

"A pepsi for her, a coke for me, and salted popcorn," Josh says, raising an eyebrow as if to say _that's what you like, right?_

I nod. Josh is so sweet. He even knows what drinks and popcorn I like too.

As we walk to the screen number 6, I feel like I'm being watched. I look towards the entrance and I see the boy at the trash can kicking himself. I wonder why he's doing that.

The film is a scary one so I get the chance to snuggle up to Josh and hide my eyes on his shoulder when it gets to the particularly scary bits.

"Cammie, you've got something on your lips," Josh says right before the couple kiss, which makes me quite annoyed, but I turn to him anyway.

"Where?" I ask, rubbing my lip and pretending to care.

"Look, I'll get it for you," he says and I expect him to flick it off with his fingers, but he doesn't.

He kisses me, just as the couple kiss in the movie. **_[A/N Cliché, I know, but it's still sweet of Josh.] _**It's the perfect kiss. Seriously, Josh is the best kisser I know. It's not like I've kissed anyone else, but on the scale of kissing, he would be on the 'brilliant' mark at least.

I feel sad when we come out of the out of the cinema half an hour later. I love Gallagher, but sometimes it feels like a convent, with all girls and no boys. But I can't tell him I'm at Gallagher, or he'll think I'm just taunting him by dating. So I just hug him one last time and we arrange our next date. I'm gonna try for Wednesday, even though it's a school night. If I can't finish my homework… well, who cares? Liz will do it for me. She'll probably be ten times quicker than me anyways.

"Bye Josh," I whisper into his ear, and he cracks into a smile.

"See ya, Cammie," he calls back as I walk away into the darkness. "Love ya!"

**Zach's POV**

"Left," Mom whispers into through the comms unit. "Right. Now left. Left again. Good, Zachy, we're almost there."

"Don't freaking call me Zachy!" I hiss back. I hate the codename Mom gave me. It's stupid _and _it totally gives away who I am.

"Ok, ok," she tells me and I can almost imagine her holding both her hands up in surrender. "Right, go right. No, I didn't mean two rights! I meant right, let's get back to business and – never mind. Left. Left. Up the stairs. Then right and it's the second door down."

I did what she said. Then when I stood outside the door, I took a deep breath. It's now or get busted by Gallagher's security. I open the door and lock it behind me…

Then my jaw drops open in surprise. Three pairs of eyes are staring at me. Three pairs of eyes belonging to three girls, who are _not _asleep, and are clustered behind a laptop.

"Uh… hey?" I start, trying for casual, even though in my head, I'm just thinking _shit_. Maybe I'm hoping they mistake me for a girl. No such luck. They are trained spies after all. "Is this Cameron Morgan's dorm?"

But that's all I get before two of them throw themselves at me, doing very elegant martial arts. In fact, I should probably give credit who ever taught the first one. I've heard about her. Rebecca Baxter, parents working at MI6, a very good P&E student. The other is new to the spy world, judging by the misjudged kicks she makes. But she's still quite a natural. It's obvious who this is. Macey McHenry, daughter of Senator McHenry. Someone even told me she's a descendant of Gilly Gallagher herself! Yeah, these two are good, but luckily for me, I'm better. Soon I've tied them to some chairs, blindfolded and gagged them.

The third one I know because of outstanding results in every test she took before Gallagher. Liz Sutton, genius of America. She looks pale and she gulps when she realises she's the only thing between me and whatever I want to do. But she charges at me anyway. Liz may be clever but she has some vital mistakes in her fighting. It was brave of her to try though.

Once she is tied up, blindfolded and gagged too, I pull out my gun and tell the three of them coldly, "I've got a gun and I'm not afraid to shoot." I say to Mom, "I've all three girls tied and gagged. They weren't asleep so I had to fight." Then I pull off Macey's gag and tell her, "you scream for help and I shoot you. Now where's Cameron Morgan?"

"Fuck you!" she yells.

"Fine, if you don't care about your own freakin' life, I'll kill your little friends, Macey McHenry, and I'll make you watch the blood gushing out of their bodies. Just one more scream and your friends will never see the sun again."

"She's…" Macey swallowed. "She's out at the movies."

"With who?"

"Her boyfriend."

Then I realise that Cameron Morgan could be the hot girl at the trash can. I don't want Mom to kill her. Not yet at least. So I rip out my comms unit on my shirt pocket and stomp on it.

"Did she wear a pink dress to the cinema?" I ask.

Macey nods. I put the blindfold back on.

I look at the pictures on Cameron's desk, just to be sure. But when I see the girl's face in a photo with Matthew Morgan, I knew she had to be the girl Mom was looking for.

Then I start putting bugs around the room in places that not even the best CIA agents could find.

That's when the siren goes off. "CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK!" the mechanical voice goes. I hear some people running outside the door and quickly picking the lock. I've got about eleven seconds left before they burst in so I run to the open window.

"Bye girls," I say. Then I dive out the window just as the adults come in.

**_[3 hours later]_**

**Zach's POV**

"Zachary Goode, come here," Mom ordered.

I sat down on the leather chair and faced my mom.

"What do you want, Mom?" Then she pulled me into a huge hug and she started crying.

"What the hell happened?! I was so worried about you, Zachy!" I roll my eyes at her, pretending that I didn't care about her sudden feelings for me. Usually, she was just as emotionless as a rock, even though I'm her son. _Job before family, Zach, _she would tell me firmly. But today was different. "I thought maybe you were captured, because your comms unit suddenly went static!"

"Mom, I'm fine. I just didn't realise there was another girl in the bathroom who grabbed my comms unit from behind and stomped on it. But I put a napotine patch on her forehead before she could do any harm."

"That's my Zach," Mom smiles. Then she wipes away her tears and says sternly, "Now, back to business. Agent Goode, what did you find on your mission? I assume you were not able to kidnap The Subject?"

"No, Mom – I mean no, boss." I say sadly. Mom was back to being the CoC leader with no feelings.

"Did you plant the bugs at least?" I nod. "Good. We'll watch her and monitor her habits. Meanwhile, you, Agent Goode, will be attending Roseville High School so that you can find out as much about Cameron Morgan as possible. Staying in the same town for more than a couple of weeks should make it easier for you."

I stare at her in disbelief. School? I have never, and I repeat, _never _gone to school. I learn everything I need to know with my mom.

"My cover will be as your mother," she says, as though she isn't my real mom. "All details about your cover background are in this folder."

She hands me a yellow folder and inside is a stack of paper. I groan inwardly.

"Got it, Agent Goode?"

"Yes, Mom – I mean boss."

**Like it? R&R please!**


	2. The First Day at a New School

**Guys, I'd just like to thank a special person for reviewing for the last chapter.**

**So, GO ZALE007! **

**Disclaimer, it's story time again.**

**Cammie: La la la, I feel so happy!**

**Liz: and why's that? is it because you're obviously mental?**

**Cammie: no, silly! it's because after so many years, I've finally beaten Bex at P&E!**

**Liz: Really?! Congrats Cammie!**

**Cammie: Thank you! How are you with your massive brain, Liz?**

**Liz: Not that great, actually. I keep getting the feeling that someone owns me. Weird. But it's not just me. I keep thinking someone owns everyone at Gallagher!**

**Cammie: Aha ha ha ha ha ha ha! ****That's such a funny joke, Liz! A bit geeky, but hilarious!**

**If only she knew that she was owned by someone. And that's Ally Carter.**

_Recap of last chapter._

"_You, Agent Goode, will be attending Roseville High School so that you can find out as much about Cameron Morgan as possible. Staying in the same town for more than a couple of weeks should make it easier for you."_

_I stare at her in disbelief. School? I have never, and I repeat, never gone to school. I learn everything I need to know with my mom._

"_My cover will be as your mother," she says, as though she isn't my real mom. "All details about your cover background are in this folder."_

_She hands me a yellow folder and inside is a stack of paper. I groan inwardly._

"_Got it, Agent Goode?"_

"_Yes, Mom – I mean boss." _

_**[Ten months later]**_

**Cammie's POV**

My life is seriously messed up. Mom hates me for not telling her about Josh. Josh probably hates me for not telling him about Gallagher, even though he probably doesn't remember the spy part. And the rest of Gallagher and the spy world hate me for almost revealing the truth about Gallagher. In a couple of days, everyone in the school will be back, eating and talking happily about their holiday. Except me. I'll be the one who pretends that she's totally over Josh. I'll be the one that all the new kids stare at. I'll be the one that is the worst chameleon in the world when I step into the hall.

What makes it worse, is that tomorrow I'm expected to swear never to contact Josh in any way again. In front of the CIA. What, did they expect me to just forget about my first boyfriend, my first kiss? I just can't take this whole thing anymore.

That's why I find myself knocking on the door of Mom's office.

"Come in."

"Mom, we need to talk," I say firmly.

"Ok, kiddo," Mom replies. She looks exhausted and there are enormous bags under her eyes. It doesn't feel right to be saying what I'm about to say. But I have to.

"Mom, I know that you think I'll get over Josh soon, but I don't think so. I've been thinking. What if me and Josh were always meant for each other, but we just didn't have enough time? What if everybody's making a mistake by separating us? I love him, Mom, and that's why I've decided to leave Gallagher and the spy world. I'm sorry."

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Mom suddenly doesn't look so tired. "Kiddo, I know you love him, but do you really want this?"

I nod. Suddenly my feet seem much more interesting.

Mom sighs. "Then I guess I'll be putting you into Roseville High."

"REALLY?!"

I didn't expect her to do that.

"Yes yes, Cammie. Don't make me regret it though, will you? You'll have to swear to the CIA that you won't tell anyone about the spy world. And I suppose you don't want to stay at Gallagher when you're not at school. It'll be pretty awkward for you, kiddo. So I'll rent an apartment for you, if you promise I can visit whenever."

"I promise!" I squeal. I'm gonna be with Josh all the time.

Then I remember. He hates me. Josh Abrams hates me. It's going to be real hard to be near him.

But I imagine what I'd have to do if it weren't this way. I'd have to go up to the CIA and tell that I'd _never _see Josh again. Like _that _would ever happen. Just thinking about it made my heart feel like bursting. Plus, I wouldn't have a good time back at Gallagher either. My sisterhood would be staring at me the whole time and I'd be known as the girl who almost betrayed the school. Not good.

"Do you want to tell your friends?" Mom asks me gently.

I think about it for a moment. Bex, Liz and Macey would _kill _me. They can't kill Mom. She's respected by everyone, even her own daughter. "No. You tell them."

"Ok, Cammie." I turn to walk out the door. "Oh and kiddo?"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

**Zach's POV**

"Agent Goode!" Mom calls upstairs.

"What, Mom?" I ask in a can't-be-bothered way. My favourite apart from the Zach smirk.

"Come down here, I need to talk to you."

"Fine." I get up from the sofa in my bedroom and plod downstairs. I'm so annoyed with Mom. She pretends she's such a nice mom and everything, but as soon as everyone's back is turned, she's like Agent Goode this and Agent Goode that. I hate it. It's like I'm not her child or whatever.

"Good, you're here." Mom says as I settle the kitchen chair. The apartment Mom rented since 10 months ago is pretty classy. Modern and stylish. It's not that big though. Only two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, a dining room, and a couple of bathrooms. Mom didn't want us to stand out too much from the rest of the people at Roseville High.

"So, I wanted to tell you that after almost one year of gathering no that much information and quite a lot of failed operations, I decided that I'm going to stop being an agent on this mission, because I have been neglecting many other missions that need to be done. Agent Goode, this means that you will be the only one who can make sure that we get the girl into the CoC's hands. I'm sure you will be able to think up an amazing excuse as to why I'm gone. Understood?"

"Yes, Mom – I mean boss." I know Mom doesn't want me to call her Mom anymore. That was just another of her covers. It had felt so good to finally call her Mom, and now that is gone again.

At least I have my friends at school. They're all a nice crowd. There's Dillon, one of my best mates, is on the soccer team with me. He's great except when you so much as _mention _the word Gallagher. There's Jonas, the geeky guy. If he was a person at Gallagher, he'd definitely be Liz Sutton. There's Grant. Not the cleverest of guys, but the girls still keep photos of him under their pillows. There's Dee Dee, the only girl in the gang. She's pretty girly, but she can be tough and boyish too. And there's Josh, Cameron Morgan's ex-boyfriend. He would've been fun… if I hadn't seen him kissing Cameron Morgan at the cinema. Course, I pretend I like him; that he's my best friend, and nobody ever questions it. And I would _never _tell Mom about him and Cameron Morgan. She'd probably torture him for information.

"So goodbye, Agent Goode." Mom says suddenly. "I have a plane to catch."

"Wait you're going now?!" I yell. Mom couldn't do that to me! She only tells me _right before she leaves? _What kind of cruel mom does that?

"Yes. I'm going. Good luck, Agent Goode."

"Good luck to you too, boss," I reply sadly.

Then I just watch as my mom strolls out the front door and into a cab, as she walks out of my life once again.

_**[Two days later}**_

**Cammie's POV**

First day of school at Roseville High. Wish me luck.

I lie in bed for a while, before I get up. I feel like nodding off, because I'm so sleepy.

That's me before I see the clock on my bedside table. This is me after I see it.

I heave myself out of the bed, shoving on a T-shirt and some jeans, before rushing into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Two minutes later, I'm at the breakfast table, hurriedly spilling some orange juice into my cup and cooking scrambled eggs. They're hardly ready when I wolf them down my throat.

Then I grab my school bag and I'm out the door. Mom decided to give me a small Mini for getting to school, so I dive into it and speed down the roads to Roseville High. The parking lot is decently sized. I can still find a parking space even though there are hundreds of cars. It's so busy compared to Gallagher.

Twenty minutes later, I walk into the History classroom, having gone to the Reception and got my timetable. The teacher is a man, with a weird goatee and brown hair.

"I'm Mr Miller," he declares, shaking my hand. "And I take it that you are…" he peeps at the name label on my jumper. "Cameron Morgan."

I nod and I notice that the name earns a few smiles, but a few glares, and mostly blank stares. I notice the people smiling are Dee Dee, Jonas, and Grant. The people glaring are Dillon, a boy that I don't know and… and… Josh. My heart skips a beat. He's so cute, it should be illegal. But I can't think that now I know he hates me.

**Bex's POV**

I just love the first day of term. It's so beautiful having a fresh new start, especially after what happened to poor Cammie last year. She is _so _not over Josh, I bet. As I walk into the hall of the mansion, I smell the old, sweet smell of Gallagher.

"Bex! Bex!" I hear a voice cry and of course I know it is Liz because I hear something smashing on the floor.

"Hi Liz, how was your summer?"

"Oh, my parents took me to Sydney. It was great! I mean, I went sunbathed for ages, but all that happened was I got _really _sunburnt so that plan backfired. But I had tons of fun. What about you?"

"I went to Mexico City after London (as usual). My mom and dad even decided to take me _on an MI6 mission_!" I say, because that really did happen and I can truthfully say that it was the scariest, but best thing ever. "I mean, sure I've been to CoveOps missions, but it's not the same. OMG, I actually went on a mission! And it was successful!"

"Wow…" Liz says in awe. My heart swells with pride.

"I know, it's cool, right?" She nods frantically. "Let's wait for the black limos to arrive. That's the signal that Macey has come."

We end up waiting a good twenty minutes, but it's totally worth it. When she comes, it's so good to just see your friends again after a couple of months' of just you and your parents.

"Macey!" Liz screams right next to me, her arms flailing about.

Macey grins when she sees us. She takes off her high heels and starts running towards us in her bare feet.

"Liz! Bex! It's so good to see you guys again, after I spent _two months _with the stupid _Senator _and his wife. Oh my God, I missed you guys _so _much! Let's go to our room. We'll see if Cammie's in there."

"Good idea," Liz says and so we head off.

"Cammie!" Macey calls as we look high and low for the girl. "Cammie! Cammie! Where are you?"

No reply.

"Where is she?" I whisper, when we entered a small tunnel. We all recognise it as the one that Cammie used to use to see Josh. We all look at each other.

"Wait a sec, guys," Liz says suddenly. "We gotta go to dinner. Can't be late for that. Cammie's probably there by now."

The idea makes sense. I wonder what made Cammie act so strangely. Usually, she's in our bedroom, waiting for us to arrive. But this year, she wasn't. She's probably crying over the fact that she can't ever see Josh again. She sent an email a week ago that she's going to go to the CIA and promise them not to contact Josh again. Poor girl. We got so excited over him last year. This year's gonna be tough for our Cammie, but I'm sure she'll get through it.

When we finally get to the Main Hall, we're 2 minutes 34 seconds late, even though we ran. There are four places left empty for us to fill in.

Wait, four?

Where's Cammie? It's like she disappeared or something. Then Headmistress Morgan goes on with her welcoming speech. Blab, blab. Every year's the same. But what I'm aching to know is where my best friend is.

Then we start to eat. Well. Everyone else does, except Liz, Macey and me. That's when I decide to just walk out the door and sleep on it. Liz and Macey follow me, wondering where I'm going, but I just ignore them. Everyone's staring at us, but I don't care about them either.

That is… until Mr Solomon bars the path.

"Mr Solomon, I'm not hungry so cut it out," I snap.

"Headmistress Morgan would like to speak to you three after dinner," he says calmly, despite the fact that everyone can hear us. He's staring into my eyes a very strange way. It's very peculiar and I don't get it at all. Why would he do that?

The suddenly my mind clears and everything clicks into place. Headmistress Morgan wants to speak to us about Cammie. That can't be good.

**I know, I know, it's a cliff-hanger for both Bex **_**and **_**Cammie. Soz, people. R&R!**

**Just so you know, my pen name **_**isn't **_** because I want Cammie and Josh to be together. It's just that my name is close to Jammie, so some of my friends call me that.**


	3. Hated

**Here's 4 my 2 gr8 reviewers!**

**Zale007 – U were the 1****st**** reviewer. Thx 4 supporting me! Btw, if Zach had his mom, then she'd just kidnap Cammie, so it was actually a good thing she left!**

**Dark. Angel. From. Above. – Glad to know u luv it! Plus, lol about the jammie thing.**

**Thx 2 all the people who decided 2 follow the story and made it one of ur favorites!**

**Another one for the disclaimer.**

**Edward: Come ON, Bella! Renesmee's crying!**

**Bella: Just wait a sec, hon!**

**Edward: It's SERIOUS! She hasn't seen you for the past three days and she's crying cos she thinks you're dead or something!**

**Bella: ONE SEC, HONEY! I'm at a really good part!**

**Edward: Come on, you've been reading that stupid Gallagher Girls series since Alice gave it to you to read!**

**Bella: Don't blame me that Ally Carter is such a good writer! She is SO LUCKY to own that series!**

**HEAR THAT, DISCLAIMER? ALLY CARTER OWNS THAT BOOK, NOT ME!**

_Recap of the last chapter_

"_Headmistress Morgan would like to speak to you three after dinner," he says calmly, despite the fact that everyone can hear us. He's staring into my eyes a very strange way. It's very peculiar and I don't get it at all. Why would he do that?_

_The suddenly my mind clears and everything clicks into place. Headmistress Morgan wants to speak to us about Cammie. That can't be good._

**Cammie's POV**

"Sorry, Cameron-"

"Cammie!" I interrupt.

"Sorry Cammie," Mr Miller corrects himself loudly. "The only space that hasn't been taken is the one next to Josh."

I start fidgeting because Mr Miller wasn't supposed to let the whole class know that I don't want to sit next to Josh. I turn an embarrassing red.

"Ok then," I say hurriedly and I rush to the place he gave me.

That's when I trip over Josh's bag and sent the stacks of paper that Roseville High gave me. Not on purpose, obviously.

"Sorry," I say to Josh, as he bends down to help pick my stuff up.

Then our fingertips meet each other, when we try to pick up the same piece of paper, and we look into each other's eyes. It's like out of a movie. The rest of the class start whispering. That's when Josh, my perfect ex-boyfriend, ruins the magical moment.

"You're welcome," Josh says sarcastically and I blink and my face hardens.

"Thank you. Josh." I spit his name out like a curse and walk around him to my seat. I can't believe I quit Gallagher for him, and then he just treats me like dirt. But I can't go back to Gallagher now. It would be even worse than before.

We spend twenty minutes in silence, fuming at each other. Being a spy (or ex-spy, I suppose, now), I notice that everyone's looking at each other in disappointment, when our backs are turned to them.

"Why did you come to Roseville High, Cammie?" he growls under his breath. "Did you want to ruin my life more than you already have? Did you want to tease me with your little Gallagher girl friends?"

I glare at him. If only looks could kill… Then I sling my bag over my shoulder, scoop up my books and stacks of paper, and storm out of the classroom. I head straight to the bathrooms. I lock myself into a cubicle and start bawling my eyes out. It's only now, after I had quit Gallagher that I want to be as far away from Josh as possible. Only now, it's too late.

**Macey's POV**

There are whispers as people file out of the hall. They keep pointing at us as though we are just puppets to look at. That's the way the Senator and his wife treat me. Like I'm a damn, freaking puppet.

Course, that's why I built a wall around me. In spy language, you could call it a cover. My rebelliousness.

"Please come to my office girls," Ms Morgan says gravely. We follow her in silence. There's nothing to say.

When we get there, we all perch on the edge of a sofa, politely. Not getting comfortable.

"Girls, I have to tell you something," she says. Me and Bex roll our eyes. Well duh. "It's about Cammie." Well duh again. "She decided to leave Gallagher Academy for Roseville High School, to amend her and Josh's broken hearts. She believes that love is more important than a life of spying. Of course, that is very true." Cammie's mom gazes off into the distance, and we can all tell (even me, the new one) that she's thinking of her husband. "Which is why I let her into Roseville. She now has an apartment, a car and a new life, without the spy world, for the better, or for the worse. And I hope that you girls can respect her choice to move on."

This wasn't so well duh. Cammie had left for Josh? You know, I don't normally say this, but… Scratch that, I NEVER say this, but… that is so sweet! Clearly, Bex doesn't think so. She's fuming, probably wondering why Cammie didn't take us with her. Liz looks dreamy, so she's probably thinking about how 'in love' Cammie must be in or whatever.

**Josh's POV**

It's her. It's her. It's _her._

Just the thought of Cammie makes butterflies roll around in my stomach. She's so beautiful that I'm not quite sure why she doesn't think so herself. I'm confused. I just don't know whether to feel angry or happy or sad or anything! This girl has me so wrapped around her little finger, even if she doesn't know it.

She's told to sit next to me. ME! Why did I get such bad luck? Or good luck? I don't know. Life's so confusing. Why didn't she tell me about Gallagher? If she told me when we first met, I would've understood, but she didn't tell me for the whole semester!

She trips over my bag, sending stacks of paper fluttering all around us. That's when we touch fingertips and we look into each other's eyes. I can't tell her I'm in love with her. She'll use me like she did last time.

That's the reason why I tell her, "You're welcome." Except I didn't mean to say it so harshly. A flash of hurt crosses her adorable face, before she blinks and it's replaced with a nastiness I've never seen before.

"Thank you. Josh." she spits with venom. I feel my gut clench in hurt. Then I keep telling myself, _don't give in. She's with Gallagher remember?_

After twenty long minutes I ask the questions that have been burning in my mind. "Why did you come to Roseville High, Cammie? Did you want to ruin my life more than you already have? Did you want to tease me with your little Gallagher girl friends?" Yet again, I say it too cruelly, too heartlessly. But that's the problem with words. They can't be taken back.

Cammie glares at me and stalks out of the classroom. She doesn't return for the rest of the lesson, or the next. Or the next.

It's only at lunch when I next see her. She's eating all by herself at the table in the far corner of the cafeteria. I feel so sorry for her, that I lead the rest of the gang to her table.

"Cammie, I'm sorry," I say quietly. She doesn't respond. I decided to change the subject. "Look, you know the gang, right?"

She nods. "Jonas, Dillon, Dee Dee, Grant, and you. But I don't know who this is."

She points at Zach. "Oh, this is Zach. Zach, Cammie. Cammie, Zach," I introduce.

"Hi," Zach says faintly.

"Hey, Zach," Cammie replies. Then she tilts her head. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"No." he says bluntly and quickly, snapping out of his trance. A little too quickly for Cammie's liking it may seem.

"Hmm," she murmurs, rubbing a bracelet on her wrist. "Interesting."

**Liz's POV**

"BEX! CALM DOWN!" Macey yells over the noise of Bex shrieking. There's a crashing sound as Bex kicks the drawer and some of Cammie's photos of us four smash on the floor.

"WHY. WOULD. SHE. DO. THIS. TO. US?" Bex yells. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HER? WHY CAN'T SHE UNDERSTAND THAT JOSH HATES HER FREAKIN' GUTS?"

"Bex, calm down," I soothe. Bex stares at me as though she only just noticed me. That happens to me a lot, being the quiet one. But I don't mind.

Bex starts to break down and bawl her eyes out. She flops onto the bed and puts the pillow over her head, so we can't see her face. Macey starts crying too, and so do I when I realise that we'll never see our Cammie again. All because of a stupid boy.

"Waaaaaah!" we all cry like babies. We lean on each other's shoulders for support.

That's when the best idea of my damn life comes to me.

We can convince our parents to send us to Roseville High.

**Cammie's POV**

"Do I know you from somewhere?" I ask, tilting my head. I seriously can't shake off the feeling that I have seen those emerald green eyes before. It was a long time ago, that's for sure, but I definitely recognise them.

"No."

But my truth bracelet tells me a different story. I stole it from Sub level Two, when I found the secret tunnel that leads into it.

"Interesting." I reply, rubbing my bracelet in thanks.

Josh clears his throat. And, naturally, I ignore him. "I've got Chemistry this semester. What about you guys?"

"Geography."

"Geography."

"Geography."

"Geography."

"Geography."

"Fine. What about you, Cameron?"

Full name. Ouch.

"Oh I've got Chemistry too." I say casually, as if I don't know why that is. Mom hacked onto the school computer and made all my classes the same as Josh's. Even more misery for me.

Turns out we're the only ones.

"Have fun!" Grant calls cheekily, wiggling his eyebrows as he saunters away. The rest of the gang sniggers, and in Dee Dee's case, whacks Grant with her bag to shut him up.

I go bright red in the face when I realise what he meant. When I sneak a glance at Josh, I see that's he's bright red as well.

We walk up to the Chemistry lab in silence and find, again, that we have to sit next to each other.

"So, Cameron…"

"Oh, what, now I'm Cameron? What about you Josh? Does that make you Abrams? Well then, I don't want to talk to you, _Abrams_," I hiss at him and I see him wince.

"Cammie," he begins.

"If it's going to be about Gallagher, I don't want to hear it," I tell him, turning to face the teacher.

"Fine then, Cameron," he returns and we stop speaking to one another.

**Zach's POV**

Cammie. Her name's not Cameron. It's Cammie. And I love it!

I'm never ever going to tell Mom that Cammie is _actually at Roseville High._

"Hey, Zach, I bet I can hook up a date with that cutie in twenty seconds flat," Grant tells me as she comes into sight.

"Grant-"

"Zach, I already know what you're gonna say. Cammie already loves Josh and he loves her, bla, bla, bla, I know. But I'll bet you five quid…"

That isn't what I was going to say at all. I was going to say I want to do the bet instead of him. But I can't now I know Cammie really _loves _him… I don't know. I can't date her when she loves someone else. I thought she was just doing it because she's a player and she thought it would be fun to make a guy fall in love with her and then break his heart. I guess not.

"Fine, the bet's on." And we spit on our hands and shake on it.

It's only when I see Grant sauntering over to her and feel a stab of jealousy that I realise that I do want her after all.

**Cammie's POV**

"Hey, Grant," I say suspiciously, when I slam my locker door shut and turn around, to find a guy blocking my way.

"Hey, Cammie, whatcha doin'?"

"Well I'm not really doing anything, since you're blocking my way," I reply.

"You are now. Cinema, nine o'clock tomorrow. Be there."

Then he saunters off in the same laid back way. I got to say, That guy _is _pretty hunky. He probably has real good abs. I sigh with happiness. Grant's something to take my mind off Josh and I need that for a while.

**[One day later]**

If Macey and Bex were here, I'd be looking perfect. But without them, I look such a mess. I forgot all about the date until just now, meaning I've only got ten minutes to get ready. So I only have time for a touch of foundation, and a touch of mascara. I only have time for a quick brush of my hair and I let it hang loosely and boringly around my shoulders. I slip myself into a strapless dress, emerald green, just like… just like Zach's eyes. Bex would probably beat the crap out of me and Macey would probably faint. Liz, being the sweet girl she is, would probably tell me I look fine anyway. I miss them so much. But there's no time. For the second time today, I rush into my car and, with a squeal of tyres, start speeding down the roads of Roseville.

I remember the cinema. It's the same one that I went to on my second date with Josh. It had been perfect.

_Snap out of it, Cammie! _I tell myself sternly. _You and Josh are never going to date again. He hates you._

"Cammie!" I hear Grant call. "Over here!"

"Hi, Grant!" I say as I approach him.

"Cammie, you actually came!" He sounds so amazed. I must've sounded like that to Josh last time. _Stop thinking about him!_

"Well duh! It's not like you gave me much of a choice," I reply and I roll my eyes.

"You… you look beautiful," he gasps. I'm quite surprised because that's not the way a player usually says it. **[A/N And yes, soz to any of you Grant lovers, but he IS a player in this fanfic.]**

"Why, thank you," I retort politely. "You look… like yourself," because it's true. He's changed the T-shirt from school but he's wearing the same ripped jeans as before.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he grins. He puts an arm around my waist, just like Josh did (_stop it!_) and leads me to the popcorn counter, just like Josh did (_shut up!_). I feel uncomfortable, because I'm with the wrong boy. I'm two timing Josh.

Then I realise. I'm not with Josh anymore. I can do what I like.

We go into the movie screening. Grant gestures for me to sit in the seat next to his, but just to prove to myself I'm not Josh's, I decide to ignore it.

"Aren't you going to sit down or are you just going to awkwardly stand there for the rest of the film?"

"Neither," I respond cheekily. I laugh at his baffled look and his mouth in a slight O shape. Perfect. Then without warning, I slide onto his lap and kiss his soft mouth. He kisses me back. He's a brilliant kisser, better than Josh, but that's probably only because he's had so many girls to experiment on. I still don't regret the kiss though. It's perfect, the best distraction I've had from Josh all day. It makes me feel a bit guilty though, kissing him although I don't love him. But then again, he's done that to so many girls before me.

3 minutes and 7 seconds later, we break away from each other, gasping because we're out of breath.

"I didn't think you had it in you," Grant laughs. "But I know I'm so irresistible, I knew you'd kiss me sooner or later."

"What, so I wasn't irresistible?" I tease. "You kissed me hundreds of times and I only kissed you once at the beginning!"

"Do you want to make that twice?" Grant asks sexily.

"With pleasure."

That's how we stay for the next half an hour, me on his lap and us both kissing each other. I know two things from these thirty minutes. One is that I like Grant very much. The other is that I can now see why Grant chose such a crappy movie. It was so that we'd get some privacy.

What I can't see is why the hell Josh, Dee Dee, Zach, Dillon and Jonas would choose the film. Out of all the films you could watch! They just burst in, laughing and talking. And they obviously catch us right in the act.

"What are you doing?" Josh roars at me and Grant.

"Nothing…" I say not very convincingly and I jump off Grant's lap straight away. I silently curse myself for being so into the snogging that I didn't even notice the others.

"Yeah, right, two timer," he says sarcastically.

"TWO TIMER?!" I shriek hysterically back at him. I poke a finger into his chest – hard. "YOU, ABRAMS, HAVE NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER TO CALL ME A TWO TIMER! _YOU'RE _THE ONE WHO HATES _ME _NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND! I'M NOT EVEN YOUR FUCKING GIRLFRIEND! AND YOU KNOW WHAT?! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I EVER SAW IN YOU! GRANT, HERE, IS A MUCH BETTER KISSER, MUCH BETTER LOOKING, AND ON THE WHOLE, A MUCH BETTER BOYFRIEND THAN YOU'LL EVER BE!"

"Oooooh," Dillon teases Josh, but he shuts up when he sees the glare that he gets.

"YOU KNOW WHAT, JOSH? I DON'T WANT TO EVER GET BACK TOGETHER WITH YOU AGAIN! I DON'T EVEN GIVE A DAMN THAT I QUIT GALLAGHER AND MY OLD LIFE FOR YOU! I. WILL. NEVER. LOVE. YOU. AGAIN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

But I don't wait for a reply. I stalk off through the screening door and out the cinema, toppling the popcorn stand in the process. It's only when I get back to my apartment that I start to sob openly.

**R&R, people!**


	4. Zach's Sleepover

**Katniss: Hey there, handsome.**

**Josh: Get your hands off me! I'm already in love, ok?**

**Katniss: Ok ok. But don't you know who I am?**

**Josh: Nope.**

**Katniss: I'm Katniss Everdeen, the Mockingjay, the winner of the 74****th**** Hunger Games, and loads of other stuff that will impress you.**

**Josh: Actually I'm not that impressed because I've got something that you'd beg for.**

**Katniss: Really now? (looks at nails with a bored expression)**

**Josh: Yup. I'm owned by Ally Carter.**

**Katniss: WHAT!? I'd DIE to be owned by Ally Carter! Will you let her own me?**

**Josh: I dunno. Ask Ally Carter herself, because SHE OWNS THE GALLAGHER SERIES!**

_Recap of last chapter._

"_YOU KNOW WHAT, JOSH? I DON'T WANT TO EVER GET BACK TOGETHER WITH YOU AGAIN! I DON'T EVEN GIVE A DAMN THAT I QUIT GALLAGHER AND MY OLD LIFE FOR YOU! I. WILL. NEVER. LOVE. YOU. AGAIN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"_

_But I don't wait for a reply. I stalk off through the screening door and out the cinema, toppling the popcorn stand in the process. It's only when I get back to my apartment that I start to sob openly._

**Josh's POV**

I just stand there in shock.

Cameron Morgan quit Gallagher Academy for Stuck-up Snobs just for me?

No way.

But then I remember the sad angry way her eyes looked and I knew she couldn't be faking. I know her eyes so well.

Which means she really loved me all along.

"Come on mate," Dillon says. "It'll be alright."

I stare at him blankly. Nothing else matters right now except for Cammie. And _nothing _is ever going to be alright now that she'll never love me again.

"Josh," Zach says awkwardly. "You could come sleepover at my place. All of us can."

I nod, not trusting myself to speak.

For a moment I remember how his mom ran off in the middle of the night with some random guy to Australia two days ago. **[A/N That's just Zach's cover to explain about why his mom has gone.] **I feel sorry for that guy. But it can't be as bad as what I'm feeling right now. Guilty and terrible and ripped into shreds.

"I'll go," Dillon says.

"Me too," says all the others, except Grant, who's looking at his feet.

"Grant man, I don't mind if you're Cammie's boyfriend," I say to him. "We're still best friends. I'm so totally over Cammie anyways."

I know the gang can tell I'm lying but nobody objects and Grant looks so happy.

We invite Dillon, Zach and Jonas's girlfriends too, so there's a group of nine: Jonas and Anna, Zach and Tina, me, Dee Dee, Dillon and Courtney, and Grant.

"Let's play Spin the Bottle!" Tina suddenly cries out.

"Ughh…"

"Yeah…"

"If we have to…"

The guys are all groaning but the girls are all for it, so we begin. Zach spins the bottle first because it's his apartment.

It lands on Grant.

"Grant, truth or dare?" Zach asks evilly.

"Uh… uh…" he stutters, scared of the look. "Truth, because you look like you're going to make me kill someone or something."

Zach grins even wider. "Do you like Cammie? As in, like her?"

Grant goes deep red. "Dare, I choose dare! Not truth!"

"New rule," Courtney interrupts. "No backing out unless you want to take off one piece of clothing."

"Uh…" Grant says the sweat building on his forehead. "Uh… Fine, I like her, happy now?"

I lunge forward at him. _He took my girlfriend away from me! He deserves a billion punches!_ But Zach is somehow already there to stop me. How is he so fast? I don't know, but it seems like he's had training or something. Weird.

"Josh man, stop it! _You_ _don't like her_, remember?"

I realise he's right. I have to stop loving that girl. And I have to make sure that Grant is still one of my best friends. I'm not going to let some girl ruin our friendship. So I sag back down into my seat. Grant spins the bottle and it lands on Tina.

"Tina, truth or dare?"

"Dare. I'm not afraid of you, Grant Newman." She stares readily.

"Fine, I dare you to have Seven Minutes in Heaven with Josh."

Tina takes one look at Zach before pulling off her T-shirt to reveal a red lacey bra. She pecks Zach on the lips and tells him that she'll never betray him like that. Zach, on the other hand, looks sad. _He likes someone else_, I realise. That doesn't surprise me though. He's a player after all. When Tina spins the bottle, it lands on me. Sadly.

"Truth or dare, Josh Abrams?"

"Truth," I say automatically, because that's what I usually say. It's already too late when I realise what they're going to ask me about.

"Ok, Abrams, do you like Cammie? Answer truthfully or we'll _make _you strip."

"I… I like Cammie. Truthfully."

"Good." Tina says and everyone around us nods with satisfaction, as though they already knew. Well, I suppose I did make it quite obvious.

A few minutes later, Anna Fetterman starts to whine, "I'm bored."

So we stop playing Spin the Bottle and Zach turns up the music to full volume.

It's booming so loud that I bet Zach's neighbours are all awake. But we don't care. That is we don't care until Zach's neighbours start rapping on the door.

"Turn that noise down, punks!" A tattooed hunk comes down. When he sees Tina's pretty face, he starts to flirt with her. Zach doesn't even blink. When they go up to the guy's room together, Zach just says cheekily, "Do you think they're having fun?" I'm amazed at this guy. But I guess he's likes someone else so I guess it doesn't really matter to him.

Next an old woman comes up from the floor below, screaming and waving her walking stick about, which everyone finds hilarious. That woman goes away after a while.

After her is the little boy screaming at us that he's trying to get to sleep and that it's way after his bedtime. The girls just find him adorable, with his teddy bear and pyjamas. They cuddle him and sickening stuff like that. He goes away feeling happy.

But out of the 7 billion people in the world, the next had to be the girl I loved.

Cammie flung the door open and screamed at us, "What the hell are you doing this late? You know-"

Then she cuts off when she realises it's us. Dee Dee immediately turns off the music. Awkward silence.

"Zach, you didn't tell me you live here."

**Cammie's POV**

_What are those noisy neighbours doing?_ I think to myself as I rush down the stairs. I stop outside the booming door and fling it open.

"What the hell are you doing this late? You know-"

It's them. Josh, Dee Dee, Grant, Zach, Dillon, Courtney, Jonas and Anna. Things couldn't get more awkward.

I clear my throat. "Zach, you didn't tell me you live here."

"Well, now you know," he answers me.

Silence.

"Jonas, congratulations, you finally asked Anna out," I say to him. He blushes.

"Thank you for sharing that with everyone."

Silence. I can't stand it.

"Well, it was nice seeing you here and all but I really must get to sleep. Goodnight," I say curtly before walking away.

"Cammie! Cammie, wait!" I know that voice too well. Josh. I continue to walk away from him. Unfortunately, he's on the soccer team and I'm not. We lead this huge chase, me walking and hiding and waiting for him to pass, and him running in the direction he thinks I went.

But eventually he corners me at the staircase.

"Cammie, look…"

I know I'm close to tears, but I _refuse _to cry in front of _him. _I have to get out, fast.

"Josh, I don't want to hear it," I tell him and I push past him. Somehow, he manages to grab my hand.

"Cammie, look at me," he insists. I stare into his deep blue eyes. They're so beautiful. _Snap out of it!_

"Josh…" My own eyes are glistening with tears.

"Cammie, I never got to tell you. I love you."

"Josh, please-"

"I love you so much it actually hurts," he says earnestly. "I love you so much that I'd die for you."

"Josh, let me go-"

"If you'd told me that you quit your school, your life, for me, I would've treated you differently, I swear."

"Josh, I'm serious-"

"Cammie, I'll be different, I'll never hurt you or anything, I promise."

"Josh, listen," I say in a gentle voice. I can't even see because my eyes are so brimmed up with tears. "I never knew you liked me so much, but I know that I can't break Grant's heart as well as yours. I like him too and I just don't think I'm ready to date you. I'm sorry."

His face crumples and he stares me with the question _why? _written all over his face. I hate myself so much that I don't even notice the tears streaming down my face until I hear drip drip drip on the floor. Josh stares, heartbroken, into my eyes but then he turns away from me and rushes down the stairs and out into the night. I sink to the floor, a puddle of tears surrounding me.

**Zach's POV**

She looks so upset that it's all I can do to stay still, even with all my CoC training. I just want to put my arms around her and whisper into her soft ears that everything will be alright. But I can't. Because she's not mine.

Instead, I have to watch as Grant, not me, walks up to Cammie and say, "That was the saddest conversation I have ever seen." I have to watch while he puts his arms around her and she sobs into his chest and he strokes her hair and she kisses him lightly. My whole heart is screaming, _She's with the wrong guy! _but I can't do anything except stand at the top of the stairs with the rest.

After that, everybody goes home, leaving me and Cammie alone together.

"I guess since we live so close, we could take each other to school," I offer. Cammie sniffs, because she hasn't stop crying fully yet.

"No, Zach, I'm not your girlfriend," she tells me sadly. _But I wish you were, _I think to myself.

"Don't worry, we don't need to look that way. I don't need to open your door for you," I tell her reassuringly. I try to convince myself that I'm doing this for Mom, for the CoC, but I know in my heart that I just want to spend some time alone with her.

"Ok, you can take me tomorrow," Cammie says shyly. "But if you lay one finger on me, Grant and Josh will kill you. Oh yeah, and I'll kill you too."

I chuckle. "Right. I'll remember that."

Cammie has a ghost of a smile on her face. She's probably remembering Gallagher, but of course, I'm not supposed to know about Gallagher being a spy school, so I pretend not to notice.

"Goodnight Gallagher Girl," I tell her warmly.

"Goodnight Zach," she replies distantly. "Wait, Gallagher Girl?"

"That's what you are… or were. Eight o'clock tomorrow at my place, ok?"

She nods and I enter my condo with a smile on my face.

**[Next morning]**

**Cammie's POV**

I wake up to my alarm ringing and ringing. I groggily push myself out of bed and dress into jeans and a faded T-shirt. Third day of school and hopefully it's going to be better than the last two.

When I emerge from my apartment, I'm feeling bright and sunny. I won't let any Josh problems get in my way today. I wonder what Mom will think when I tell her that Josh and I never got back together. She'll think I've wasted a whole lot of time and training. Maybe I should try training in my apartment after school. That's a good idea.

I make my way down to Zach's condo and ring the bell. Zach opens the door with a smile.

"You ready, Gallagher Girl?" he asks.

"Yup."

"Then let's go! Race you!" And he sprints down the stairs.

"Unfair!" I cry after him and I jump from the top of the stairs through the hole in the middle of the stairs onto the ground floor. I roll to lessen the impact.

"Cheater!" he calls after me and he leaps through the window, smashing the glass and sprints to the car, while I go the long way, through the ground floor _doors _and through the parking lot to Zach's car.

"You can't break windows!" I scream in delight but then I vault onto the hedge and jump off it and into the passenger seat in the car, just before Zach gets into his seat.

"And you can't ruin hedges, little missy," he laughs, pointing at the hedge I jumped off. He's right, I did ruin it. You can see the holes where my feet were. I laugh too. That was the most exhilarating thing I've ever done since CoveOps last year.

Most guys would have asked me how I learnt to jump from the fourth floor to the ground floor, or how I could jump so far off a hedge, but not Zach. That means he already knows about Gallagher (impossible!) or he's especially stupid (much more likely).

That's why I don't say anything about it. We spend the rest of the time chatting about anything in particular: trees, cars, birds and Zach's girlfriends. It's so easy to chat with him.

"So I heard you're a player," I tell Zach.

"Oh, yeah," he says as though being a player is nothing bad. But it is.

"Why's that?"

"Well, Gallagher Girl," he begins, "Unlike other players, I don't necessarily like breaking girls' hearts. It's just I think I see 'the one for me' so I go to her and hook up with her. But then I find that the girl has something dead wrong with her like I dunno, she likes to kill people or something, so I dump her."

"Kill people?" I snort.

"Well, yeah I was stuck on reasons," he grins back at me.

"Ok then…" I say. "Well what happened to Tina? I didn't see her at the sleepover."

"Oh she went off with one of the neighbours," Zach shrugs. "Probably had sex."

I gasp. "She did _what_?"

"She went off with one of the neighbours," he repeats. "She probably had sex with him."

"But… you don't care about that?" I ask, shocked.

"No, not really," he smiles slightly at me. "I was going to break up with her anyway. She's a player too. Besides, Gallagher Girl, I've got my eyes set on someone else."

"Really?" I ask him eagerly, "What's she like?"

"Oh, she's perfect," Zach sighs, with a dreamy look. "I've liked her for since last October."

"Then why haven't you asked her out?" I say, puzzled.

"She was dating someone for a long time," he explains. "But then they broke up. I thought that was my chance to be her shining knight in armour, but now she's dating someone else. And she really likes him."

"Awww, that's such a sad story," I sympathise. "Poor you!"

"Yeah," he says, still distantly. "Yeah, I know. I don't know what to do."

"Tell her you love her." I can't believe he hasn't already done that.

"I can't," he croaks. "She's dating… a friend of mine. I can't break my friend's heart too."

"Is this girl a player?"

"No… I don't think so," he says quietly.

"Does your friend really like her? Is she 'the one' for him too?"

"I'm not sure," he answers. "He likes her, but I'm not sure whether she's 'the one' for him. I mean, it started off as a bet between me and him to see whether he could up a date with her in twenty seconds." I stare at him, shocked. Is this the type of bets players do? Because that's just cruel. Poor girl. I bet she doesn't even know about the bet. He continues, "But I'm not sure what he's thinking now. What's worse is that the boy she was dating before they broke up still likes her."

"Wow…" I trail off. "That girl must be pretty perfect for three boys to like her."

"She is," Zach agrees.

"Well, I'm sure you'll get through it in the end," I say, because we're at school now. "But I'll help you think something out. I promise."

**What do you think? R&R please!**


	5. The Gallagher Girls are back!

**I updated this chapter cos I 4got about my lovely reviewers, soz guys! Also I wanted to ask, r the disclaimr stories really stupid? Plus, I need some ideas 4 the nxt chapter.**

**Roxie Tina Ritchi: I luv Cammie too. She's so sweet and nice. And clueless, as u said!**

**Zale007: It's so sad 4 Josh, right? I know, I'm so cruel. But lol, Tina's funny.**

**LoudNProud: I made Bex, Liz and Macey come in here, just 2 keep a CERTAIN person happy. Not mentioning any names. (I'm talking about u LoudNProud)**

**Dark. Angel. From. Above.: Ha ha, I didn't even realise it was funny until u pointed it out. lol.**

**Disclaimer Story Time!**

**Bex: Hey, Mace, today I went to the library because I was bored and I found a book.**

**Macey: (sarcastically) Wow, you found a book!**

**Bex: But this book wasn't just ANY book…**

**Macey: (still sarcastically) Yay.**

**Bex: No, this book… BETRAYED THE SECRETS OF GALLAGHER! WE'RE DOOMED!**

**Macey: WHAT?! But… but… I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!**

**Liz: Guys, guys, guys, stop being so immature. We're owned by ALLY CARTER! She'll never let us be killed!**

**Bex and Macey: oh, yeah. Oops. Let's just imagine that that freak out didn't happen, k?**

**Liz: K.**

**SEE DISCLAIMER? THERE'S PROOF OF IT! ALLY CARTER OWNS THE GALLAGHER GIRL SERIES!**

_Recap of last Chapter._

"_I'm not sure," he answers. "He likes her, but I'm not sure whether she's 'the one' for him. I mean, it started off as a bet between me and him to see whether he could up a date with her in twenty seconds." I stare at him, shocked. Is this the type of bets players do? Because that's just cruel. Poor girl. I bet she doesn't even know about the bet. He continues, "But I'm not sure what he's thinking now. What's worse is that the boy she was dating before they broke up still likes her."_

"_Wow…" I trail off. "That girl must be pretty perfect for you and two other boys to like her."_

"_She is," Zach agrees._

"_Well, I'm sure you'll get through it in the end," I say, because we're at school now. "But I'll help you think something out. I promise."_

**[A/N The girl Zach is talking about is Cammie but she doesn't know that.]**

**Bex's POV**

"Come on, Liz! How much longer will it take?" I whine.

"Just a couple more seconds… and DONE!" Liz shouts.

We all whoop. We're in! What Liz has been trying to do for the past three days is hack into the security system of Gallagher and replace all the files with smiley faces and saying _Ha ha! From your very own Liz, Bex and Macey. P.S. This was the funnies prank ever! _We're hoping to get expelled, so that we have an excuse to go to Roseville High, to our Cammie. A few minutes later an angry Ms Morgan rages into our room. She's been acting snappier since Cammie left.

"What the hell were you kids doing?!" She yells so loudly that I'm pretty sure my eardrums burst.

"We replaced all the files-" Liz begins.

"I know that, Ms Sutton, I meant, WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?"

"We were bored?" Macey tries.

"YOU WERE BORED?!" She screams. "YOU WERE BORED?! WELL, IF YOU WERE HOPING TO GET EXPELLED, TODAY IS YOUR DREAM COME TRUE!"

We all looked at each other with pleased expressions. But Ms Morgan is on such a roll that she doesn't notice.

"I WANT YOU THREE PACKED UP BY 10 AM! YOU CAN STAY IN CAMMIE'S PLACE UNTIL YOU SORT THINGS OUT FOR YOURSELVES! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

We nod. Then she storms away. We high five and then quickly pack all our belongings. Exactly 11 mins and 54 seconds left until we're going.

**Cammie's POV**

"Grant!" I call and I rush over to him.

"Hey, beautiful," he says. Then he starts kissing me passionately in the middle of the parking lot. I kiss him back. The rest of the world disappears until it's just him and me. He backs me up against his car and it turns into a heated make out session. I can vaguely make out other people taking photos of us and posting it on the school's website as 'the hottest couple of the week', but I don't really care.

"What is going on here?" It's the headmaster. We freeze in our tracks. We are _so _caught in the act. Grant's got one hand on my butt and the other inside my shirt and I've got both hands feeling his abs.

The crowd watching us all run away as the headmaster, Mr Gilbert, walks over to us. Me and Grant step away from each other. I blush so much.

"Into my office, both of you," he tells us sternly.

We don't object as we go up to the headmaster's office. He gestures for us to sit in the seats but I ignore him and sit across Grant's lap. Mr Gilbert literally pulls me away from Grant.

"Well, as you both know…" he drones on, but I'm not listening. I just nod like I know what he's talking about. What I'm really thinking about is how I'm the least Chameleon person in the school. My picture is on the school website, for God's sake! I really need to tone everything down a bit.

"Do you understand?" he asks, an hour later.

"Yes, Mr Gilbert" we both say.

"You can go now. But remember, if I see you publicly making out again, I'll give you one month's detention."

Grant kisses my forehead as soon as Mr Gilbert is out of sight. He says, "I love you, babe."

"Me too." I say quietly and peck him on the lips.

We walk into Geography together. Everyone is staring but when I sit on Grant's lap again, they look away, knowing that we didn't get a punishment this time.

Josh keeps staring at us and then looking away when Grant pecks my lips. I feel so guilty. The teacher, Mr Laney, is a stuttering quiet thing, so we don't get any problems from him.

Half an hour later, my phone starts to ring my ringtone 'Call Me Maybe' by Carly Rae Jepson.

"No phones," Mr Laney squeaks but I ignore him and pick it up anyway. I get off Grant's lap and slip into my own seat. I look at the caller.

It's Bex.

_Should I pick up? _I wonder. But it's Bex. If I don't pick up, the next CoveOps lesson Gallagher has, she'll probably storm into the classroom and beat me up. So naturally, I answer her call.

"Hello? Bex?"

"Hey Cammie," she says in a voice that isn't angry. Phew.

"What's up?"

"Well… what's up is that Liz, me and Macey got ourselves expelled."

"You _what_?!" I shout into the phone, standing up.

"Yeah, Liz hacked into the school's security system and replaced all the files with smiley faces and stuff…"

"She _what_?!"

"Cammie, we know things aren't really working out for you and Josh," she begins. I blush deep red. My friends know me so well. "So we got expelled so we could come help you out."

"Awwwww, you guys are so sweet! But you really shouldn't get expelled just for my relationship with Josh." Oops, I forgot the whole class had been staring at me the whole time. They had listened to everything on my side of the line. Poor Josh. Everyone's looking at him now. "Sorry," I mouth at Josh. Then I say to Bex, "Well, where are you now?"

"Outside your condo," she replies. "We can't get in and we have nowhere else to go. We used Liz's super-fast, silent van to get here. You don't mind if we stay at your place for now, do you?"

"No, not at all. Meet you there. Actually, I live in the same building as this guy in my class called Zach, and he drove me to school today so you're going to have to bring Liz's van here." Oops. I've done it again. Now everyone's looking at Zach as if wondering what we got up to in the car. I must look like a total slut. Especially when I sit on Grant's lap.

"Ok, meet you in the parking lot in five minutes," Bex says. "Bye."

"Bye." Then I hung up.

"I've got to go," I tell the teacher. Then I sling my bag over my shoulder and walk out of the classroom. I notice the amazed stares of some of the others.

**Zach's POV**

The subject's friends were expelled from Gallagher! Mom would love that piece of news, but I couldn't betray Gallagher Girl.

I don't like what Grant is turning Cammie into. A total slut. The girl I raced with this morning wouldn't have made out in the middle of a parking lot, or sit on a boy's lap, or talk to her friends in the middle of class.

I decide to follow Cammie and see what happens. Maybe I'll send Mom a bit of hardly important information. Mom's probably wondering why I haven't contacted her for five days.

"Mr Laney, I forgot about my doctor's appointment," I shout out, raising my hand.

"Alright, alright, go then," Mr Laney said, annoyed at how chaotic the class was getting.

I rushed out and followed Cammie down the stairs. She looks up once or twice, but she couldn't see me, concealed behinds the staircase.

She hurries into the parking lot. I crouch behind a car. Suddenly, a small minivan drives in. It's so silent that I can hardly hear the engine running. Beautiful.

Three girls step out the doors. They're all wearing sunglasses, even though it's September and it's not so warm anymore.

"Cammie!" Liz yelps and runs over to her friend. She takes off her sunglasses and chucks it away. It lands and dents another car. I guess sunglasses aren't really her thing.

"Liz!" Cammie yelps too and they hug.

"Hi, Cammie," Macey says coolly, but then she says, "Oh, what the hell," and hugs her too.

Bex just stares at her friend. "Bex?" Cammie asks quietly. "Are you ok?"

Bex blinks away some tears. "Yep. Yep, I'm fine." They hug the longest, because both of them start to cry.

"Cammie," Bex says suddenly, "Do you get the feeling that we're being… watched?"

"Watched?" Cammie asks. "Wow I'm really out of practice. But yes, now you mention it, I do think someone's watching us."

"There!" Liz shouts, pointing straight at me. _Uh oh, _I think to myself. I stand, holding both hands up in surrender.

"Ok, ok, I was watching you," I say. "Is that so illegal?"

"Zach?" Cammie says, confusion written all over her face. "What're you doing here?"

"Well, as you said, I _am _a player after all," I shrug. "I was wondering whether your friends were cute or not."

"This is your friend, Zach? He's the one who took you to school?" Bex says incredulously. "Cammie, we thought you'd have enough sense to at least choose good freakin' friends."

"What's going on?" Cammie stares at all of us with bewilderment. It's adorable.

"What's going on is that _this damn boy _is the one who snuck into Gallagher. He was the one who almost killed all three of us," Macey glares.

Cammie gasps. "Did you do that?"

I look at the floor in shame. For some reason, when I talk to this girl, it's impossible to lie. "Yes."

Cammie closes her eyes. "I trusted you. I trusted you and you work for the CoC. I can't believe I was so stupid." My heart clenches.

"Keep away from him," Liz squeaks. "I bet he's got a gun on him. I bet he's just waiting for the right time to take you to the CoC leader, Catherine Goode."

Cammie blinks. "Your mom's the leader?"

"Yes."

Bex scowls at me. "Let's go."

And so I watch as Cameron Morgan walks away from me, except this time, she hates me.

**Cammie's POV**

My mind is reeling. Zach? A CoC agent? Impossible!

Then I think about how he had run so fast and run through a window without hurting himself this morning. And it makes sense.

But if Zach, one of my good friends, is my enemy, how do I know who's my friend? It seems like the only people I can trust are Mom, Bex, Liz, Macey and me!

"Freakin' Zachary Goode," Macey mutters to herself as we get into the van.

"Guys, don't worry, it's not like he was my boyfriend or anything," I reassure them. "In fact, we never talked except for in that car journey this morning!"

Bex grimaces. "But that's too much already."

Liz stares at me as though examining a computer. "You're much different," she mumbles. "Too relaxed. Too out of practice."

"Sorry," I apologise, looking at my feet.

"Bex can coach you back into shape," Macey offers, not taking her eyes off the road. Bex nods in agreement.

"Thanks, guys," I smile. They really are the best. I don't know how I even survived without them.

We climb up the stairs and I unlock the door to my condo. Bex whistles. I guess my apartment is kind of modern and classy. Everything's white or black. The whole wall is glass, meaning there's a nice view of the small town.

"Nice place," Macey nods approvingly.

"Mm," Liz murmurs. "Very stylish."

I grin. "Well, I've got two bedrooms and four sofas, what's the sleeping plan?"

"Four sofas," we all say together and start giggling. This is going to be like one massive sleepover.

**Keep reviewing everyone!**


	6. Macey's Realization

**I dedicate this chapter to you Dark. Angel. From. Above., cos I really appreciate ur support since like chapter 2, and u gave me a great idea.**

**Also, I'd like to dedicate chapter 5 to Zale007 cos u've been wiv the story since the 1****st**** chapter and cos u were the first reviewer.**

**Dark. Angel. From. Above.: Great idea. I'm going to use it in the next chapter cos it worked. Thx a hell of a lot. Glad u were enthusiastic bout the 5****th**** chapter.**

**Zale007: the girls weren't dramatic cos it was in a normal car park and people culd c their spy skills and gallagher's wuld be blown**

**Roxie Tina Ritchi: Don't worry cams not a slut. and she wont be**

**gallaghergirl12673: Love this idea. I'm gonna use it later on in the story. Luv u!**

**amira: That is a seriously good idea, I'll use it in the next chapter or the next after that.**

**Annie: I think I'll make ur idea the overall outcome.**

**Disclaimer Story**

**Grant: She's MINE!**

**Josh: No, she's MINE!**

**Zach: (walking in) Hey guys, whatsup?**

**Grant: CAMERON MORGAN IS MINE!**

**Josh: NO, CAMMIE HAS ALWAYS BEEN MINE!**

**Zach: Guys, stop it! You both know that Cammie was destined to be with me. I mean, I'm the total package. I've got the looks, the brains and the personality! No girl can help but fall in love with me!**

**(Josh and Grant try to strangle him.)**

**All three: SHE'S MY GIRLFRIEND!**

**Ally: (walking in) Hey, people! What's going on?**

**All three: CAMERON MORGAN IS MINE!**

**Ally: (tutting) No no no, boys don't fight over Cammie! She's none of yours, because she's mine!**

**Zach: You're lesbian?**

**Ally: Ha ha ha! No, it's just that I own Cammie. And I own you, Zach, and you, Grant, and you too, Josh! In fact, I own every person in the whole Gallagher Girls series.**

**All three: Oh yeah, I guess so.**

_Recap of last chapter_

_We climb up the stairs and I unlock the door to my condo. Bex whistles. I guess my apartment is kind of modern and classy. Everything's white or black. The whole wall is glass, meaning there's a nice view of the small town._

"_Nice place," Macey nods approvingly._

"_Mm," Liz murmurs. "Very stylish."_

_I grin. "Well, I've got two bedrooms and four sofas, what's the sleeping plan?"_

"_Four sofas," we all say together and start giggling. This is going to be like one massive sleepover._

**Cammie's POV**

"Cammie! Cammie, wake up!" I hear Bex's voice in my ear.

"I'm getting up," I say groggily, but I don't try to get up at all. That's when Bex pushes me off the sofa. I land with a loud thump onto the floor.

"What the hell was that for?" I say annoyed, but awake, picking myself up again.

"You wouldn't wake up, and it's already 5.26 in the morning," she explains. "We're running _so _behind schedule!"

"So behind schedule?" I ask her sceptically. "We only need like ten minutes to get to school."

"Yeah, but we need one hour to do hair alone! What about the choice of clothes? I forgot to tell you, but you wore the most revolting clothes yesterday. I almost puked."

Yep, that's my Bex. What would I do without her or Macey? We walk into the guest bedroom, which Bex, Macey and Liz turned into a dressing room.

"What time did you wake up?"

"Only about 4. We did stay awake til 3 after all. A girl needs her beauty sleep!" Bex replies like waking up at four in the morning is absolutely normal.

"You slept for 1 hour?!" I blink. "That's hardly anything."

"Oh, I'll catch up sometime," Bex reassures me. "This place is cool, but it _so _needed redecorating. I mean, the table was orange and the walls were purple! _Ewww!"_

"Oh." I guess I never really noticed.

The girls had changed the room completely. Now everything apart from the purple walls was a beautiful green, just like… just like Zach's eyes, I realise. _Why do I keep thinking about his damn eyes?_

"Oh my God, it looks amazing," I say.

"Thanks," Liz, Bex and Macey chorus together.

"Right Liz, you're done," Macey says and steps away from Liz's hair, examining it. "Like it?"

"Thanks, Mace," Liz says. "It's beautiful."

Liz is right. It _is _beautiful. It tumbles down her back in curls, still bouncy but much more mature then Liz's usual sweet one. The make-up is perfect too. The glossy pink lip gloss isn't too bold and matches her blue eyes brilliantly. The foundation is just a touch but with Liz, she blushes whenever a boy just walks past her. I'm pretty sure that she won't need foundation when we get to school. Liz is wearing a rosy pink top that is so big that it looks like a dress. Underneath that, she's wearing skinny jeans and converse sneakers. It's really cute though.

"Well, Liz, you're free to do whatever ever weird stalking boys thing you wanted to do on the computer now," Mace says with a grin.

"It's not stalking," Liz complains, blushing hard. "I'm just making sure that there aren't any freakin' rapists or anything."

"Ok, ok," Macey grins even wider, holding both her hands up in the air in surrender. No need to get touchy or anything!" Then Macey turns to me. "You're up next Cam."

I groan. "Macey…"

"Don't worry; I'll make sure it'll be as long and torturous as possible."

I sigh. "So what are you gonna do first?"

"Well, I thought we'd start by choosing what to wear."

We go into the storage room at the back of the apartment. I thought I'd just use it chuck anything I want there. Apparently not. My girls have turned it into some sort of walk-in wardrobe. It's crazy. Somehow, they got someone to put shelves there for the shoes and racks for the dresses and other clothes. There's a whole wardrobe full of accessories.

"What… How…" I begin lamely.

"Well, the senator is running for vice president next year, so I decided I might as well take advantage of the one thing he's helpful for. And that's money. I bribed everyone into waking up _really_ early and creating this place.

"Wow…" My mouth is literally hanging open. I shut it quickly.

"Yeah, it's cool right?" Macey laughs, but her voice is muffled while she looks through the dresses. She keeps murmuring to herself. "Hmm… this one's good… nah, it wouldn't suit you… not this one… maybe…"

"Macey!" I snap, annoyed. "Can't _I _choose what I wear?"

She stares at me as though I said something stupid. Then she laughs. "Fine, but only if I approve of it."

I figure out that's the best deal I'll get, so I start flipping through the clothes myself. Everything is _way _too showy. It's actually horrifying. After about ten minutes, I finally choose.

"Here!" I declare proudly, holding up a pair of tracksuits. I was beginning to think I'd never find something, but I had, in the end.

Macey just howls with laughter. "You think _that's _going to look good? Try naked, Cammie. That'll look better than those trackies."

I feel the heat rising to my cheeks. It's not my fault I'm not the best at fashion.

"Look, Cammie, we're going to high school, not some sort of P&E lesson." She says, turning deadly serious. "This is more like it."

She holds up a top that's not too bad actually. It's white, not transparent, and it's quite long. I think that'll suit me ok.

"Great, Macey. I'll go with that. Now what pants am I going to wear?"

She looks at me, kind of amused, then says, "Cammie, you're dumb sometimes, but I didn't think you were this dumb. You're not going to wear any pants underneath. You'll be going to school with only this."

"WHAT THE HELL?!" I scream at her. "Macey, I'm not some kind of prostitute you know. How come Liz gets to wear pants underneath? I. AM. NOT. WEARING. THAT. THING!"

"Oh yes you are," she says, stuffing the shirt (I _refuse _to call it a dress) into my hands. She also hands me a belt, a denim jacket and high heels. "Now go shower, and when you come out, it better be wearing this, or I'll get Bex to handle you," she warns, before pushing me into the

**Zach's POV**

Cammie Morgan hates me, and I can't bear it. It's just so impossible to live with her beautiful eyes staring at me with hatred and betrayal.

But as she walks down the corridor now, clutching her books to her chest as though trying covering her body, I can't help but gasp at her beauty. Even if her dress _is _a bit short for my liking.

All the other guys love it though. They take her shyness for love for books and cleverness. They're all wolf whistling and stuff. Course, it might not just be Cammie they're staring at. Macey is the tall, cool, glamorous one, Bex is the strong, determined, attractive one, and Liz is the clever, bouncy, pretty one. Cammie, of course is at the front, though I can tell she doesn't want to be. But she's still the leader. She's the heartbreakingly stunning leader.

I can tell this is going to be the group everyone talks about at school.

If I didn't have my CoC training, I wouldn't hear, but I did. So I heard Bex whisper in Cammie's ear, "Who's the good-looking Greek God?" I see Grant sauntering towards Cammie and her gang.

"That's Grant," Cammie whispers back. She doesn't say anything about boyfriends.

Grant goes right up to her and dips her, kissing her in front of the rest of the school. A look of surprise passes Bex's face, then it vanishes just as quickly. Wow these Gallagher girls are trained good.

I know what Grant's doing. He's kissing the hot girl to show that she belongs to him.

That breaks my heart.

Cammie doesn't even pull away. She just carries on the kiss. Her arms creep up to his neck. When they stop 4 mins and 5 seconds later, they gasp for air.

"Grant, we were lucky that Mr Gilbert didn't catch us this time," she whispers in his ear. "Let's go."

Grant nods and the five of them walk to class. As Cammie passes me, she looks about to smile, but she remembers who I work for and it ends up like a grimace instead. I feel like crying and I've never done that in my entire life.

The other three glare at me and Bex whispers that she'll get revenge for almost killing her. I don't even care.

**Macey's POV**

A week later on Friday, Dee Dee decides to join our little group. Course, it means we can't talk about Gallagher, but I guess we can talk about that at Cammie's apartment.

"So, guys, I'm having this huge party at my place next Saturday, wanna come?" she asks, beaming at us.

"Sure," I tell her. Cammie agrees and Liz jumps up and down in excitement. Bex doesn't say anything, she just stares at the wall. That's odd. Usually Bex would be chatting on and on and on about make-up and hair by now.

Then the boy gang (I guess you can call it that now, because Dee Dee isn't there anymore) come up to us.

"Hey girls," Dillon greets. He's temporarily the leader of the group. Just until Josh gets to grips with Cammie dumping him for Grant. "Whatcha doin'?"

"I've got a party at my place next Saturday, you coming?" Dee Dee pipes up, but to me it's obvious that she's not addressing the whole group, she's just talking to Josh. I remember from last year that Dee Dee has a crush on Josh, even though they've just been friends like forever.

"K," all of them reply, except for Josh, who has the same look as Bex did before. I can see that he is thinking about Cammie. Then I realise Bex must've been thinking about a certain someone. But who?

The evil Zach is also staring at the wall. That's odd. He seems so heartless that it's impossible for him to actually _like _people. I mean, he's _killed _people before! I mean, Zach and liking people do _not_ go together. I give myself a mental note to confront him later, where there will be no one who could be staring at us.

Liz is looking at Jonas dreamily. Aww! It's so sweet! They'd be such a perfect couple! A but nerdy, but still perfect!

Sadly, Jonas isn't looking at Liz back. He's looking at Bex. I feel like screaming at him til he likes Liz. But I can't.

"I'm going if Camster's going," Grant says, wrapping an arm around Cammie and kissing her on the neck. Cammie shivers and Josh clenches his fists but says nothing.

"I'm goin," Cammie whispers in his ear. The smile that lights up Grant's face literally glows.

"Wear something nice," he whispers back. Cammie grins and pecks him on the lips. Suddenly there's a slight movement beside me that I only see because I'm a spy. Bex's fingers are twitching like when she's jealous.

Oh my Gawd! Bex likes Grant? Or she likes Cammie, which is _so lesbian. _Ewww! Gross thought.

I look at Dillon. He's the only one who I haven't figured out yet apart from Zach. He's staring right through me at the wall dreamily.

Then it hits me.

He's not staring through me. He's staring at me! I recoil at the thought. He was the one who told Josh that Cammie goes to Gallagher. He's the one who ruined everything. He hates Gallagher so much! But… he likes me?

No way!

Then Zach steps towards us. Me, Liz and Bex go in a tight circle around Cammie automatically. My whole mind is screaming, _he's going to try something! _But in the end he doesn't. He just shrugs and walks past us. The rest of the gang kind of stare at us crazily.

"Girl group huddle," Bex explains and we swiftly pull Dee Dee into the circle and start randomly talking about party decorations and stuff like that. Dee Dee looks genuinely excited though. She's so sweet.

The boys look bored and after a minute they just left us to go on talking about the party. Even Grant.

"And I was thinking we could get a disco ball… ooh, and a DJ, and some banners and some beer and…" Dee Dee babbles on happily and she doesn't notice Cammie rolling her eyes behind her. I stifle a laugh.

"Bye Dee Dee," Cammie interrupts a couple of minutes later. "Gotta go catch Bex and Liz's guitar lesson." She lies. But I guess that's the only thing field agents do so Cam's got an excuse. "But if you can pop over for a sleepover tonight that would be awesome."

Then Cammie quickly hurries away before anything else can be said.


	7. Truth or Dare

**A couple of people reviewed saying I spelled neighbour wrong, but I didn't cos I'm British, and that's how we spell it.**

**Zale007: No I dont watch the inbetweeners, y?**

**MigiLove2143: ikr? But this disclaimer story was pretty bad. and the chapter was ok, not the best.**

** . .: Don't worry, I couldn't resist ur idea.**

**LoudNProud: (this goes to every1 actually so I'll put it in caps) I'M SORRY EVERY1 BUT I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE 2 UPDATE SO MUCH COS I'M GETTING REALLY BUSY. SO I MIGHT (JUST MIGHT) ONLY BE ABLE 2 UPDATE ONCE A WEEK RATHER THAN EVERYDAY.**

**Disclaimer, look at this.**

**Liz: Welcome to Gallagher Academy. I hope you do well in your job interview. This way please. (Leads to the Head's office)**

**Rachel: What makes you think you're up for the job of Disclaimer?**

**Disclaimer: I know who owns everybody.**

**Rachel: Who owns me?**

**Disclaimer: Ally Carter.**

**Rachel: Who owns Cammie?**

**Disclaimer: Ally Carter**

**Rachel: Who owns Zach?**

**Disclaimer: Ally Carter.**

**Rachel: (crossly) Fine. Who doesn't Ally Carter own?**

**Disclaimer: She doesn't own Harry Potter.**

**Rachel: I mean in Gallagher Girls.**

**Disclaimer: Ally Carter owns everyone in the Gallagher Girls series.**

**Rachel: Well done. You've got the job!**

_Recap of Last Chapter_

"_And I was thinking we could get a disco ball… ooh, and a DJ, and some banners and some beer and…" Dee Dee babbles on happily and she doesn't notice Cammie rolling her eyes behind her. I stifle a laugh._

"_Bye Dee Dee," Cammie interrupts a couple of minutes later. "Gotta go catch Bex and Liz's guitar lesson." She lies. But I guess that's the only thing field agents do so Cam's got an excuse. "But if you can pop over for a sleepover tonight that would be awesome."_

_Then Cammie quickly hurries away before anything else can be said._

**Cammie's POV**

"Guys I'm sleepy, going to sleep." Liz says, yawning. It's midnight and we're sprawled over the sofas covered in blankets.

"Fine you can go to sleep, but I'm playing truth or dare," Bex grins.

"Ok, I'm up," Liz bolts upright. We all laugh.

"I'm starting," Mace says dryly, staring at Bex slyly. "Truth or dare, Bex?"

"Dare, duh," she says, rolling her eyes.

"I dare you to phone up Grant and tell him you love him," she says. "you gotta say these exact words. _Grant, this is Bex, your girlfriend's best friend. Now, we've only known each other for one week but I got to say, you are the sexiest man alive and I love you and I want to be with you forever. So will you marry me, Grant Newman? _And Bex, you have to sound totally serious and you've got to put the phone on speaker so we can all hear his reply. Oh, and you can't ever tell him that you were doing a dare until Monday."

We all start howling with laughter. Including me, and I'm Grant's girlfriend. "No way!" she screams at Macey and starts hitting her with a pillow.

"Hey Bex, is this going to be the first time you're ever gonna back out of a dare?" Dee Dee teases. She's never been on a sleepover with Bex before but even she knows that Bex always does her dare no matter what.

"Fine," Bex huffs but she's blushing crazily. She picks up her phone and dials Grant's number that she got from my contacts list. She turns it on speaker.

"Hello?" he asks, annoyed. "Who the hell is calling at 3 am in the morning?"

"Hi, Grant," she says all fake dreamily. "This is Bex, your girlfriend's best friend. I know we've only known each other for one week but you're the sexiest man alive and I love you so will you marry me, Grant Newman?"

"What the fuck?" is Grant's answer. "Are you like some sort of psycho stalker?"

We're all trying to hold back our giggles. Bex carries on fake tearfully, "So you won't marry me?"

"Bex, what the hell is wrong with you? I mean we're 16! Who the hell marries at 16?!" Man, Grant is dumb sometimes. We can literally smell the sarcasm dripping from Bex's voice whenever she speaks, but he still doesn't notice. He's so gullible. Cute.

Then Grant hangs up on her. Hurt is all over Bex's face that I blink to make sure. Still there. Then I realise that she must be pretending. She must be. Wow, she'd be a really good actress. Or a spy, naturally. Then Bex smiles evilly.

"Camster, truth or dare."

"Truth."

"K then, have you had sex with Grant yet?"

I glare at her. "No! I've only known him one week!"

"Yeah, but the way you're all over each other, it's like you've had it like ten times already." She says it a bit weirdly, not like Bex at all. But I can't place it. So I just shrug.

"Dee Dee," I turn to her. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," she laughs. "I'm not that dumb."

"Have you ever dated Josh Abrams?"

Her cheeks go rosy pink. "No…"

"Awww," we all sigh.

"You should totally ask him out," I point out.

"No, I don't think he'll say yes…" she trails off.

Macey rolls her eyes. "Dee Dee if he says no, it's his loss not yours. He's missing out on a cute girl."

"You really think?" We all nod and she literally glows. "Thanks guys. And thanks Cammie cos I know you had a claim on him and that it means a lot to you now you're giving it up." I shrug indifferently. _I don't really care, I don't really care, _I tell myself. But I know I do.

"Liz, you're turn," Dee Dee says happily. "Truth or dare?"

"Uh… I'll go for…" We all know she'll go for truth. "Dare."

Everyone gasps and Macey grins and says approvingly, "Rebel, I like it!"

"Ok," Dee Dee says, hurriedly thinking up something else. "Try screaming from the balcony, _I love Zachary Goode_. Just a warning, he lives two floors below us."

Me, Liz, Bex and Macey look at each other. I guess Dee Dee doesn't know what the CoC is, let alone Zach is a part of it. Liz bites her lip but she goes up to the balcony anyway. She leans over the railing.

"I love Zach Goode," she yells. More like, says very very quietly.

"Louder," Dee Dee demands.

"I love Zach Goode_,_" Liz says and this time it's like normal speaking volume.

"Louder!" Dee Dee eggs on.

"I LOVE ZACH GOODE!" Liz shouts.

"LOUDER!" Dee Dee shouts too. She doesn't know she's making Liz say she loves the enemy.

"I LOVE ZACHARY GOODE!" Liz screams at the top of her voice. Dee Dee makes her repeat it a couple of times.

Zach comes out onto his balcony too and screams back, "I know, I know, I'm impossibly-" Then he realises it's us. "I'm… I'm… I gotta go. My… uh… my mom's calling me." But we all know his mom isn't even in Roseville.

"That was odd," Dee Dee comments as we go back inside.

"Yeah," the rest of us agree unconvincingly.

"Let's just carry on," Macey suggests.

"Good idea, Macey, truth or dare?" Liz croaks, because her voice is so hoarse from yelling.

"Dare."

"Call up Cammie's mom and tell her Cammie's pregnant and she desperately needs help," Liz rasps.

"Won't you get…?" Dee asks

"Expelled?" Bex cuts in. "Been there done that, remember?"

"Oh yeah."

"Fine," Mace says confidently. She rings up Mom on the landline. A lump grows in my throat cos I haven't seen her in ages and the first news she's going to get of me is that I'm pregnant.

"Hello?" Mom's beautiful voice says. Except now it seems so out of life. My stomach lurches.

"Hi, this is Jennifer Grahams, one of Cammie's new best friends at school…" Macey begins in a weird voice.

"Hello Jennifer… why did you call?" Mom says tiredly.

"Well," then Macey launches into a super-fast story. "Cammie went off with someone random guy and didn't come back til four in the morning then she puked all over the carpet and said she felt really sick the next day we went to the pharmacy and Cammie had a pregnancy test and it was positive so now she's pregnant."

"WHAT?!" Mom shrieks. "Put Cammie on the phone right now!"

Macey shoves it in my hands. I say to Mom, "Hey Mom, just so you know that was a stupid prank from, uh," _what's your name again, _I mouth to Macey. _Jennifer, _she mouths back. "A stupid prank from Jennifer. Jennifer's really annoying sometimes. Just so you know, I am _not _pregnant."

"Oh, Cammie, I've missed you so much!" Mom tells me.

"Me too, Mom," I answer back. "Why didn't you come see me on Sunday like you promised?"

"I was busy, kiddo," she says, and I can hear some of her old happy self flooding back in her voice.

"Come this Sunday, please?" I beg.

"I'll try kiddo," she replies.

Then I hang up.

"Who's next Mace?" Bex asks.

"Hmm… Cammie. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," I tell her confidently.

"Ok… climb down the building until you get to a random stranger's balcony, then get into their bed and wake them up, pretending to be their girlfriend. Then do what ever they want you to do for ten minutes, then repeat the whole thing twice."

We all stare at Macey, shocked. Ok, all our dares have been quite bad, but nothing on this scale of bad.

"Macey… are you sure you want me to do all of that?" I say nervously. "I mean, what about Grant?"

"Fine, do that for two people at least," she says. Wow this girl is seriously evil.

With a groan, I get onto the balcony. "Bye guys," I grimace.

Then I begin to climb down the railing. I jump onto the balcony below us. I open their door and step in. This place is a total pig sty. There are clothes strewn everywhere. It's disgusting. At least the bed's decent enough. I get into the bed. The guy next to me is really hunky, but he's the player type. He can't be more than two years older than me. I tap on his shoulder.

"Hey, wake up, handsome," I whisper in his ear, cos I know that Bex discreetly clipped a bug on me as I walked past her on the balcony.

The guy wakes up. Then he looks confused, because it's only 3.30 in the morning. "Wha… wha…" Then he looks at me. "Do I know you?"

"I'm your girlfriend," I say through gritted teeth. I bet the others are having a huge laugh about it right now.

"No… you're not my girlfriend," he says. "I don't have a girlfriend."

"So do you want me to go out of your apartment?" I ask him hopefully. I start to turn away but he catches my hand.

"Nope, you can stay right here with me, beautiful," he grins. Now I can't go because I have to do whatever he wants for the next ten minutes.

"That's what I was hoping you'd say," I plaster a smile on my face.

"Great, come closer, gorgeous."

I reluctantly step forward. He smashes his lips against mine and begins groping all over my body. His tongue asks for entrance into my mouth and of course I have to give him it and so he starts exploring my mouth. He pushes me onto the bed and then he's lying on top of me, straddling his legs around mine. It's absolutely revolting. But I keep up with it. Then he removes my tank top so harshly that it almost rips. He takes off his shirt too, expecting me to feel his abs and chest so unfortunately I do. He's starting to take off my trousers and knickers too and I'm screaming in my head _I'm gonna lose my virginity to a complete stranger, _but just then, I'm saved by my watch, which beeps, meaning I've done ten minutes. I jump out of his reach.

"What?" he asks me, blinking. "Why'd you stop? Why did you watch beep?"

I start putting my clothes back on. "That's the time Mom's back from her night shift," I lie. "I'm so screwed."

"Well, you'd better go then," he says rather sadly. "But what's your number?" He gets me a pen and paper. I quickly scribble down the words _can't tell you, _and the word, _sorry._ Then I fold it and hand it to him, before sprinting out to the balcony and starting to climb down. His face disappears out of sight, but only after I see him read the note and look disappointed.

I jump to the railing below. I'm going to skip this one. It's Zach's, so it's bad news. Out of nowhere, two arms come out and grab me. "We need to talk," Zach's smooth voice murmurs. Panic and terror floods into me and I start screaming, loud enough for Bex, Liz, Macey and Dee Dee to hear even without the bug.

"Zach, let me go! Zach! Help me someone!" I try to flip out of his arms, but he's got a grip like steel. He straps me to the chair. Then he rips out my bug and stomps on it.

"Cammie, we need to talk, and we don't have much time," he whispers.

"What do you want, Zach fucking Goode?" I spit in his face.

"Cammie, I want to apologise to you," he starts.

"Bit late for that now," I hiss. "You kidnapped me."

"I had to, or you'd never listen to me ever." That is true. He continues, "Look I'm sorry I didn't tell you I'm in the CoC, but I swear that it's only me in this operation and I wouldn't betray you, ever."

"Why not? You've killed so many others."

"Because… you're different," he admits reluctantly.

"How?" I demand. "Is it cos I'm a girl, as sexist as that is?"

"No-"

"Fine, is it because I'm sixteen, I'm a teen?" I say, anger rising up inside me. "Because I seem to recall Liz telling me yesterday that _you_ were the one who caught my dad and _you _were the one to torture him and _you _were the one who shot the two shots that ended his life." Hot tears are spilling down my cheeks now and I croak out, "I hate you, Zachary Goode! I hate you! You took my dad away from me! He's gone and it's all. Your. Freaking. Fault!"

"Gallagher Girl, I-" That's all he gets out before Bex and Mace burst into the room holding guns.

"Hands where I can see them!" Bex orders. "I'm handing you over to the CIA."

Zach holds both his hands up and Macey rushes forward to untie me from the chair. She asks if I'm okay and I nod, wiping the tears away.

"Let's tie him up," Macey suggests.

"One punch?" Bex begs. "Please?"

"Fine, but just one," Macey sighs. "The longer he's not tied up, the more chance he'll escape."

Bex punches him once. She turns to walk away, but almost helplessly, she turns back and punches him a couple more times, then a few more, then she just keeps punching and kicking and punching more. Zach doesn't even move a muscle, even though the guns aren't trained on him, so he could just run. Then Macey pulls her off him and they tie him to the chair I was in just now. He's hardly conscious and there are bruises all over his body.

A few minutes later, Mom, Mr Solomon and Abby burst into the room too. They untie him again and haul him up. They force him to walk forward, even though he's having trouble staying awake. Oh well. He deserves it. He killed my father and almost killed me and my friends. We all walk down the stairs to the parking lot and walk towards Mum's van.

Suddenly, it's like chaos. Ten people dressed in black jump out of nowhere and start attacking. They're super-fast and have the element of surprise, so in about twenty seconds they have Mom, Joe, Abby, Bex and Macey pinned down. They haven't got Zach, so I'm guessing they're the CoC. Two of them grab me and start dragging me towards a black truck. I'm screaming and scratching and kicking and punching but I'm generally quite out of practise and they're super-strong.

Then Zach (I know, Zach?) shoots in front of us, despite his bruised body. He takes them both out in a couple of seconds by knocking their heads together.

"What are you doing, Agent Goode?" a woman's voice calls out. She steps out from the passenger seat of the black truck. "We're the CoC, your side, remember?"

Then Zach starts tackling the woman.

"Agent Goode, I'm on your side," the woman yells. "I'm Catherine, your mother!"

A feeling of hatred boils inside me. She's the leader of the CoC.

"No you're not," Zach tells her quietly, but we can all hear because we're all trained. "You stopped being my mom when dad died, when you started calling me Agent Goode, not Zach. You stopped being my mom a long time ago."

Then Zach swiftly snatches his mom's gun from her belt and even though he looks about to collapse, he tells her, "Look, I want you to take all your goons and go, just go."

"You won't shoot me, Zachy," his mom tells him. "You wouldn't shoot your own mother."

"Yes I would," Zach hisses and he shoots Catherine's arm to prove his point.

Catherine howls. "Ok, ok, we're going! Come on, men!"

All the goons get up and follow Catherine into the truck, two of them dragging the unconscious ones. They drive away.

Then Zach falls unconscious.


	8. Why?

**I'm so happy, cos we hit 1 531 views in 1 WEEK! OMG I'M SO HAPPY!**

**Sorry to any1 who was annoyd that I did the whole last chapter in cammie's pov, but I thought it was bettr that way and I seriously didn't have enough time to change it.**

**KatieElizabethGrace: Ok, between u and me, the couples u were reviewing about are actually the ones that the story's gonna end with.**

**Roxie Tina Ritchi: Lol about the oh my goode(ness) thing. If you don't mind, culd I use it in my fanfic? With ur name on it, course! Zach is SO SWEET sumtimes, and I just wantd that 2 cum out in this chappie, cos it nevr does in the books! Thx 4 telling me bout the disclaimr stories, I was getting worried.**

**Dark. Angel. From. Above.: Well, it may be awesum, but it was basd on ur idea!**

**Zale007: Well that explains it… awkward! No I just got the name randomly.**

**Disclaimer, here's another short story 4 u! [A/N, Soz 2 all the jane eyre/Victorian classics luving people. I just got really annoyd cos we had 2 write 3 jane eyre essays in five days. ****ANNOYING!]**

**Jane: La la la, I'm in luv wiv Mr Rochester, la la la!**

**Macey: Who's Mr Rochester ?**

**Jane: Only the handsomest person ever!**

**Macey: Oh, I get it, ur one of those 19****th**** century English classic weirdos, shulda known.**

**Jane: I'm not weird! I'm just a girl who's in love with Mr Rochester.**

**Macey: Fine, if ur not weird (which u totally r), you're stupid.**

**Jane: No I'm not.**

**Macey: Prove it. Who owns u?**

**Jane: Uh… uh… I'm owned by someone?**

**Macey: Duh. You're owned by Charlotte Bronte. That proves ur stupid. And I bet you don't know that you're only in luv with Mr Rochester, cos Charlotte Bronte decided to make you feel like that.**

**Jane: (angrily) I AM in love with Mr Rochester! And if you think you're so freakin' clever, who owns YOU?!**

**Macey: (rolling her eyes) Ally Carter of course! She's the best writer ever!**

**Jane: Oh, I know her! She's awesome!**

**Macey: Lol, u know who owns me, but you don't know who owns yourself.**

**Jane: Humph.**

_Zach swiftly snatches his mom's gun from her belt and even though he looks about to collapse, he tells her, "Look, I want you to take all your goons and go, just go."_

"_You won't shoot me, Zachy," his mom tells him. "You wouldn't shoot your own mother."_

"_Yes I would," Zach hisses and he shoots Catherine's arm to prove his point._

_Catherine howls. "Ok, ok, we're going! Come on, men!"_

_All the goons get up and follow Catherine into the truck, two of them dragging the unconscious ones. They drive away._

_Then Zach falls unconscious._

**Cammie's POV**

"Hi," Dee Dee says, grinning at me. "Come in, guys! Tonight's gonna be awesome!"

"Love the enthusiasm, Dee Dee," Bex grins. "Let's get this party rollin'!" Bex yells into the empty hallway.

We all get to work, getting the streamers and everything, making the whole place look like a real high school party. Me, Bex and Liz have never been to any high school parties before. Only Macey, who's obviously done everything rebellious since forever, has gone to dozens, even though she was only in freshman year at the time. Dee Dee has been to loads too, mostly Josh's, Zach's, Grant's, Dillon's and Jonas's. But us? Not so much.

Three hours later, I'm standing there in this really really short, low cut purple dress. I bet I look like such a slut. I'm so glad that they didn't put _too _much make up on me. They said my clothes are gonna, quote: 'take the attention of my unmake-upped face'. And they're so totally right. But at least Bex and Macey allowed me to wear my favourite combat boots. And they totally got my dirty blonde hair curled just right.

Then the first person arrives.

"Is Cammie here?" Grant's voice comes from the doorway.

"Yes," Bex says.

"Oh, it's you, the psycho stalker. Remind me I gotta talk to you later," he scowls. Then he lowers his voice, "You wanna marry at 16? Seriously? My dad's got a list of physiotherapists **[A/N Wait, those ARE the mind therapists, right?] **that I'm gonna give you cos you seriously need help."

Bex storms off, while Grant runs up to me and lifts me up. Man, he's so damn strong and muscly. I mean I know this guy and, boy, does he have an eight pack! I straddle my legs around his body and I start snogging him right there, in the middle of this huge party. This time, we break our make out record. After 34 mins and 48 seconds, we finally break apart.

Outside, it's already darkening and it's only 7.30. Oh well, wild parties aren't so fun in the day. Loads of people came while we were snogging and now the place is full of laughing people and the smell of booze. Everywhere you look there are people drinking or smoking. Every corner of the whole house has a couple making out. And it's awesome.

Grant has his arm protectively around me and Josh looks at me with hurt eyes. My heart squeezes. But I can't go out with him now. Not after I got so deep with Grant. Besides, Dee Dee wants to ask him out and I won't go out with him, because it will just hurt Grant_ and _Dee Dee.

"Do you think I should make my move?" Dee Dee says nervously to me.

"Yup." I say, trying to leave my own feelings out of the question.

"Ok," she gulps and then heads towards him, a smile on her face as though she's happy, not nervous. "Hi Josh," she begins.

"Hey, Dee Dee," he replies, while trying to push through the crowd towards me. Awkward.

Then, to give Dee Dee a good chance of getting a date, I do what I do best. I disappear. Usually Josh can see through my Chameleon-ness, but this time it's just impossible for him to see me, with the blaring music and the crowds of people all squished up next to each other. I watch as Josh looks around, confused and then force himself to listen to Dee Dee. I tune in my ears to hear what they're saying.

**Josh's POV**

"So, how're you finding the party?" Dee Dee asks, her cheeks flushed.

"It's great, Dee Dee," I force myself to stay and talk to Dee Dee even though the only thing I want to do is talk to Cammie. "You and the girls did a brilliant job. It must've taken ages to plan."

"Yeah, it did," Dee Dee beams. "Anyway, I've… I've got something important that I need to tell you." She takes a deep breath. "I… I really like you, Josh, so do you wanna go on a date?"

"What?" I ask, not rudely (I hope), but just surprised.

"Well, I guess that isn't a yes, but it isn't a no either," Dee Dee says, trying for lightness, but failing badly. I mean, her eyes are brimming with tears. I guess my "what" didn't come out right.

I never knew Dee Dee liked me! I mean, liked _liked _me! We've been friends since kindergarten! Poor her, it must have been so hard when I was dating Cammie! And I NEVER EVEN KNEW! Wow. Just wow.

She looks so upset that I can't say no to her.

"I'd love to," I reply, with a reassuring smile, even though it's breaking my heart not to be with Cammie. "How about the ice rink, Friday, six o' clock?"

Dee Dee grins even wider. "Great." Then she pecks me on the lips and scurries away. A couple of metres away, she talks excitedly with her girl gang. Cammie's not with them.

That reminds me. I have to talk to her.

Where is she? Probably making out with Grant. Again.

**Cammie's POV**

"how about the ice rink, Friday, 6 o' clock?"

"Great." She pecks him on the lips. Just like I used to do.

I can't watch anymore.

I run to the bathroom, push thru the queue and the person opening the door to go in. I lock the door behind me and start sobbing into my hands, ruining the make-up (luckily there isn't too much). But I don't care.

I can't believe Josh really doesn't care about me. At all. I mean, if he cares about me like he says he does, then why is he dating another girl? WHY?

Half an hour later, I'm still in the toilet, but my tears have almost run out. People outside the door are banging on the door, probably desperate to piss. I guess they haven't found the other toilet yet.

Then I realise how selfish I'm being. I'm not thinking about how Dee Dee's feeling so happy about it, after waiting since kindergarten to work up the courage to ask him out. And _I _was the one who told her to ask him out. I forgot about Josh, who probably hates/likes me, and needs a break, someone new, so he can forget about me. And I forgot about the people outside who are pissing in their pants.

So I hurriedly wipe up my tears, wash my face and step out.

"What the hell took you so long?" a guy yells at me as soon as I step out. "Were you like giving birth?!"

"Sorry," I smile apologetically.

With a scowl, he pushes past me and into the bathroom.

"Cammie, we need to talk," Josh says, coming up to me.

"What do you want, Josh?" I say. Oops, I didn't plan to say it that coldly.

Hurt flashes across his face, but he realises something must be annoying me. "Cammie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." I glare at him to shut up.

"Cammie, I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" I snap. he really _is _making me annoyed now.

"About us. I know things have been going downhill ever since I found out you were in Gallagher, but I don't want it to stay that way. I want us to be back together. Soon."

"How are you gonna break that to your girlfriend? That you don't want to be going out together."

"So you do care about me," Josh says thoughtfully, more to himself than me.

"Course I do," I scoff. I realise Josh could be a player if he wanted. I just thought he wouldn't. But now I'm not so sure. "I care about you – you're my ex," he flinches, don't think it didn't escape my notice, "so you're a touchy subject. But we're over. I'm not letting you break Dee Dee's heart."

"Cammie, maybe I could let Dee Dee know that she's not _the one _for me or something."

I stare at him. "No, Josh. Just no."

"Why?" he shoots back. "Why do you want to stay away from me so much?"

He thinks I don't like him? What the hell? I love him. He likes me. Big difference. Except he only likes me, and I also love Grant. But I'll leave that part out.

"I… I don't," I whisper, staring into his gorgeous eyes.

"Then why?"

"I… I…" I can't get anything out. Then I realise how selfish he's being. Course he likes me, I love him, but there are other people in this world too! "Josh! Look, we can't be together. You've got Dee Dee. I've got Grant. End of."

I push past him. Once again, I feel like crying, but I won't, not this time.

**[Three days later]**

**Macey's POV**

We're standing by our lockers, chatting about the new clothes we bought Dee Dee for her date with Josh. That's before Dillon comes.

"Hey girls," he smiles lopsidedly. It's kinda cute – SNAP OUT OF IT MACEY! God, what is _wrong _with me? Dillon? Cute? NO WAY!

"Hey Dillon," the girls say tiredly. He's been following us around. It's weird.

"Whatsup?" he carries on, ignoring the groans of my friends.

"We're having a private conversation about a date, so fuck off," I tell him.

He holds his hands up. "Ok, ok, no need to get angry. God, you look cute when you're angry!"

"Ughh!" I say in frustration. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, beautiful," he smirks. "That's why you love me so much."

"Come on!" I say, a smile quirking at the edges of my lips. "I love _you_? You wish! Have you _seen _how much you've been following me around?"

"Only cos I know your true feelings are gonna show up if I keep doin this," is his comeback. "You know you want me!"

"Yeah right," I roll my eyes. The rest of the girls are giggling, I don't know why.

"Tell that to me in two minutes," he smirks even more.

And then he kisses me. It's sudden and surprising, but his lips are so, so soft. He's a great kisser too. And that's saying something, because I've dated hundreds of boys. I can't help it when my hands start rising towards his hair. I can't help it when I moan as he presses himself against me, pushing me against the lockers.

"I told you, you want me," he says, out of breath, a while later.

"Dream on, lover boy!" I call after me as I walk out the corridor.

**Soz guys. I'm really busy with schul homework so i'm gonna take longer 2 update. REALLY SORRY!**

**Anyways, I get encouragd 2 write more if i get more reviews. So...**

**1 review: pathetic. i'm probably gonna take two months.**

**2 reviews: guys, seriously? 1 month.**

**5 reviews: meh, alright. 3 weeks.**

**10 reviews: Finally! Good! 2 weeks.**

**15 reviews: Great, thx guys! 1 week.**

**25 reviews: Awesome! Forget the homework, I'm doing this all night!**


	9. Visits to Zach

**LoudNProud: Macey? Letting a boy get off easily? NO WAY!**

**MigiLove2143: I'm not sure yet, wht do u think?**

**Guest: I hav no idea wht ur name is, but whoevr u r, thx 4 reviewing!**

**the chameleon (guest): U already know tht I'm gonna update depending on how many people review. But I'll update asap.**

**Jay-Goh: Do u like it like tht? Or wuld u rathr MaceyxNick?**

**Roxie Tina Ritchi: Thx! btw, in this chappie, Zach's in the hospital 4 the whole time.**

**Dark. Angel. From. Above.: MaceyxDillon, I luv them 2!**

**Disclaimer, here u go!**

**Voldemort: Mwa ha ha I'm so evil!**

**Catherine (Zach's mom): Really now? Let's have an evil contest.**

**Voldemort: Fine, but let Wormtail be the judge.**

**Catherine: Ok. You start.**

**Voldemort: AVADA KEDAVRA!**

**Catherine: Is that the best you can come up with?**

**Voldemort: What?! You're not dead?**

**Catherine: Nuh uh! Ally Carter gave me ultra cool evil powers. I'm such a criminal that you can't hurt me with magic!**

**Voldemort: WHAT?! Totally unfair! Who is this Ally Carter? I shall Avada Kedavra her instead!**

**Catherine: Ally Carter isn't in the book world, so you can't. Ally Carter made the Gallagher Girls series. She OWNS me. She owns everyone in the Gallagher Girls series. She's AWESOME!**

**Voldemort: Oh.**

**Wormtail: Sorry my lord. Catherine wins the evil contest.**

**Voldemort: AVADA KEDAVRA!**

**Wormtail: AHHHH!**

_Recap of last time – Macey's POV_

_And then Dillon kisses me. It's sudden and surprising, but his lips are so, so soft. He's a great kisser too. And that's saying something cos I've dated hundreds of boys. I can't help it when my hands start rising towards his hair. I can't help it when I moan as he presses himself against me, pushing me against the lockers._

"_I told you, you want me," he says, out of breath, a while later._

"_Dream on, lover boy!" I call after me, as I walk out the corridor._

**[A/N Just so every1 knows, 4 the whole of the last chaptr, Zach's been in hospital.]**

**Zach's POV**

As she walks through the door, my breath catches. Cammie is so pretty and she doesn't even know it. Then I quickly replace my expression with a smirk. I can't let her know that I like her.

She rolls her eyes. "What is it with you and smirking?" she mutters to herself. She perches on the edge of the hospital bed and arranges the flowers in the vase.

I laugh. "Well, it _is _my signature smirk."

She rolls her eyes again.

"So what brings you here?" I ask. "I bet you couldn't resist coming to see me, cos I'm _so _hot."

"Nope." She's totally serious now. "I'm here because I wanted to ask you why you went against the CoC? Why did you shoot your own mom?"

"Because I've wanted to quit the CoC for quite a long time," I confess, but I don't say anything about liking Cammie. "My mom wouldn't let me. But when she tried to take you away… I couldn't just watch her take away one of my best friends. Because we are friends, right?"

"I'm not sure…" Cammie says uncertainly. "This whole saving my life thing could just be a trap…"

I smirk. "You'rea very cautious girl, aren't you?"

"Spy," she says and points to herself.

"Not-sure-what-I-am," I say, pointing to myself.

She laughs and it's such a beautiful sound. Then she frowns as though remembering that I might be the enemy.

"Cammie," I insist, sitting up a bit straighter and wincing, cos of the bruises that Bex gave me. "I'm not your enemy. If I am, then why did it take so long for my mom to attack?"

She ponders this for a moment. Then I press on.

"If I am, then why did I have that race with you to my car that day? Why did I share my love life with you?"

"Yeah that's true…" She says faintly. Then she smiles again and it's so dazzling that I have to literally cover my eyes. "So… how's the girl you like? Have you made any moves?"

"Yeah, the girl's great as ever," I say dreamily. "But I haven't made any moves yet."

"Why's that?" Cammie asks.

"I think she might hate me," I explain and Cammie nods.

"Are you gonna tell me her name?" Cammie asks cheekily. My cheeks go flaming red.

"No!" I kind of yell. Then I realise who's chatting with a nurse outside. Mom. "GET DOWN!" I hiss to Cammie and she immediately ducks under the bed.

"Good morning, Agent Goode," Mom says formally.

"Hello Mo – I mean boss," I tell her.

"Let's get down to business," she says pulling up a chair. I notice how close Cammie is to Mom's foot. She stares into my eyes. "Why didn't you contact me since I left this mission?"

"Mom, I-"

"No actually, I think the question should be, WHY THE HELL DID YOU SHOOT MY ARM?"

"Mom, I'm tired of being your little puppet," I explain. "I hate how you're never my mom, you're always my boss."

"Zach, Zach, Zach," Mom smiles cruelly. "Whoever thought that Zachary Goode would fall in love with the Subject?"

Uh oh. Cammie's RIGHT UNDER THE BED!

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, right, Mom."

"It's true isn't it?" she grins even wider.

"No, it isn't," I tell her firmly. "I don't love Cameron Morgan. I mean, she's at Gallagher."

"Then what was she doing at the apartment?"

"I don't know," I lie. Mom raises her eyebrow.

"Fine. She was at the top of the building with her stupid boyfriend, looking at the stars."

Mom smiles. "That sounds better. But why the hell did you not tell me in the first place?"

I sigh exasperatedly. "I told you before, I don't want to work for you anymore. I want to live a normal life, as a high school guy, not a mass killer." I hope Cammie's listening.

"Why do you think I would let you out the CoC?" Mom narrows her eyes.

"Duh. Cos I'll just go to the CIA and spurt out all our little secrets," I roll my eyes. "Where base is, who you all are, what some of the missions are…"

Mom stares me intently for a minute, a hard glare. "You think I won't kill you as bluntly as the Cameron girl?"

"You won't kill me and we both know it," I say, with the same glare. The Goode glare.

Then her shoulders sag and she looks drained and old. It's a part of her I've never seen before. She says, "Yeah, I can't kill my only son. Fine, what are your other terms?"

I think for a moment. "Never come near Cammie or me ever again. Fifty mile radius."

Mom bursts out laughing. "You've fallen for that girl real hard, haven't you?"

"No, I haven't!" I yell, blushing furiously. I hope Cammie can't see. "God, what the hell is with you?"

Mom just laughs harder and imitates me in a high pitched voice. "No I haven't! God, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Shut up," I tell her. "It's just because two of my best friends are totally in love with her. They're literally my brothers now. I can't hurt them."

"Really now?" Mom still looks amused.

"Yup, I don't love Cameron Morgan, I like this other girl," I tell her, silently thinking, _I don't love Cameron Morgan, the spy, I love Cammie Morgan, the Roseville High girl._

"Oooh, tell me all about her," Mom grins, leaning in. Oh great, so _now _Mom decides to act like a real mom.

"No!" I say, playfully swatting her arm away. That's when we remember our agreement. She's supposed to be 50 miles away.

"Goodbye, Zach," Mom says. Tears brim up in her eyes. Wow. Mom's never _ever _had tears in her eyes. Not since Dad got killed by the CIA. Not since she turned to the bad side.

"Goodbye, Mom," I try to say, but end up choking a little.

"Are you sure about this?" Mom says, hugging me briefly. That's never happened before either.

"Yes," I manage to get out.

With that, she blinks away her tears and walks out the room. I'll probably never see her again.

Cammie crawls from under the bed, her hair all messed up. It's cute.

"Zach…" she starts.

I blink back the tears and smirk at her. "She was a bitch of a mom anyways."

"Zach!" she glares at me. "You will _not _call your mom a bitch! No mom deserves that."

"Yeah, that's coming from the girl who my lunatic mom's trying to kidnap," I grin.

"So what?!"

"Ok, ok," I say. Then I mutter, "Selfish retard."

"Oi!" she yells. Then she grins mischievously. "So, are you planning on telling me who your secret crush is?"

"No!" I say, getting touchy. Then I realise she's joking. I smirk. "I might tell you later."

She frowns really cutely, then looks up at me hopefully. Even more cute. "Zach, can you at least tell me one thing about her?"

I smirk the Goode smirk again. "If you tell me what you like about Grant."

She nods eagerly. "Ok, you first."

I think for a sec. "She went to Dee Dee's party on Saturday."

"That doesn't cancel anyone out," she points out, scowling. "Everyone at Roseville High came."

"That's the point."

"Fine, I like Grant cos he's hilarious, even if he's a player," she explains.

Funny. She likes a funny guy. I gotta remember that.

"Cammie? Cammie?" I hear a voice from outside. Sounds like Macey's.

"Bye, Zach," Cammie smiles apologetically. It's beautiful.

Still staring at her soft, full lips, I say dreamily, "Bye, Cammie…"

**Cammie's POV**

As I walk out into the corridor, I'm what Zach and I have between us. Are we friends? Or are we enemies? It's all so confusing.

"Cammie!" Macey runs up to me. "You're here!"

"Yeah, why?" I ask, even more confused.

"Liz saw Catherine coming in the hospital on CCTV, and we knew you were there cos you told us you were seeing someone at hospital," she explains, relieved. "The CoC hacked into the hospital's security system and put everything on a loop so nobody will be too suspicious."

"No, they didn't get me," I told her, silently thanking Zach for pushing me under the bed. He saved me. Again. "They didn't even see me."

"Oh, good, who do you think they were after?" she asks, puzzled.

"I don't know," I lie.

"Ok then," she says. "Why did you come to the hospital by yourself anyways? Who were you seeing?"

"Uhh… Nobody?" The most unrealistic thing to say.

She looks around us. "Wait a sec… This is Zachary Goode's corridor."

I flinch. She's found me out.

"Why the hell did you see Zachary Goode?" she shouts.

I shrug. "He saved my life."

"I don' like it," she says, suddenly nervous. "Let's go."

She drags me out the door and we get into the car. She whizzes off at 120 miles per hour and I'm _sure _she's gonna crash in a sec, but she doesn't. It's a miracle. We stop outside Gallagher's gates.

Wait. Gallagher?

"Your mom wants to make sure you're ok," Macey explains. I sigh.

As we walk through the corridors that we both know so well, we see people staring at us. We have to endure it for ages, until we _finally _come to mom's office. Macey knocks.

"Come in, Macey," Mom says. She rushes towards me and hugs me real tight.

"Mom…" I say awkwardly.

Mom ignores it. "Oh, my baby! I thought you'd been taken again! Don't you ever scare me like that again, do you hear?"

I look around at the relieved faces of my friends, Mr Solomon and Aunt Abby. I smile at my mom and promise her, "Yes, Mom."

"Good girl. Anyway, kiddo, I thought it would be best if…"

"If what?" I ask.

She looks me dead in the eye. "If you come back to Gallagher Academy."

"_What?!_" I scream at her. She winces.

"Told ya she'd say that," Abby grins. "That's why I came up with a better idea."

"What is it?" I say nervously.

"I'll come and live you guys."

I roll my eyes. "Fine, but only if you don't turn down missions cos of us, and only if you don't act like an overprotective mom."

Abby has a glint in her eye. "Oh, no. I won't be."

Mom swats Abby playfully.

"Then it's a deal."

We shake on it.


	10. Kissing the Wrong Person

**Hey everybody! I'm feeling pretty happy 2day! Don't know y, but whatevs!**

**Warning: there is a LOT of drama in this one! Yay!**

**Guest: Zach is actually pretty cute whn he denies liking Cammie. It's so sweet!**

**Goode-Lover: Don't worry! Abby's going 2 be **_**so awesum!**_

**Dark. Angel. From. Above: DILLONxMACE 4EVER! I luv thm too!**

**Disclaimer Story!**

**Jonas: (dreamily) Liz… Liz…**

**Grant: Aw, come **_**on, **_**Jonas! Dude, you've been drooling over Liz for the past 20 mins!**

**Jonas: Hey, you can't say anything as soon as anyone mentions the name Bex-**

**Grant: (dreamily) Bex… Bex…**

**Jonas: See what I mean?**

**Grant: (grumpily) Fine, I get it.**

**Jonas: Hey, look! There goes Disclaimer Guy!**

**DG (short for Disclaimer Guy): Hey, do you know who owns the Gallagher Girls series? It was Addie Carrie or something.**

**Grant and Jonas: (dreamily) Ally Carter… Ally Carter…**

**DG: That's it! Thx guys! (he notices the drooling)… Uhh… Yeah, I'll just slowly step away from the drooling freaks…**

_Recap of Last Chapter_

"_I'll come and live you guys."_

_I roll my eyes. "Fine, but only if you don't turn down missions cos of us, and only if you don't act like an overprotective mom."_

_Abby has a glint in her eye. "Oh, no. I won't be."_

_Mom swats Abby playfully._

"_Then it's a deal."_

_We shake on it._

**Cammie's POV**

It's Monday. Back to school. Ugh.

I wake up to a voice hollering in my ear. "WAKE UP, SQUIRT!"

Yeah, that's how I found out Abby likes early mornings even more than Bex, Liz and Macey do.

"Abby, what time is it?" I groan.

"IT'S ALREADY FIVE!" she yells. I swear I'm half deaf cos of that. "NOW GET UP, LAZY BONES, OR FEEL THE WRATH OF THE ABBY MONSTER!"

As much as I want to stay in bed, the Abby monster sounds much, much worse.

"Why do you want me up at 5?" I ask her as she flips the pancakes on the stove. Even Bex, Liz and Macey are struggling to stay awake. "Do you like doing mass makeovers too?"

Abby glares at me. "Do you think I'm the fashion sort?"

"Yes," we all chime together.

She thinks for a moment. "Point taken. But you don't only need a mass makeover every morning. You need practise for combat. You left the spy world, but the spy world still wants you. So every day, we're gonna practise for 1 hour. Half an hour in the morning, half an hour in the night."

We all groan, except Bex, who suddenly perks up, totally awake. Once we've finished our pancakes, we follow Abby into the dressing room that Macey, Bex and Liz made. Macey gasps in horror when she realises that Abby's totally changed half of the room. Now there's pulleys and levers and punch bags. Abby made us train for a whole half an hour and Macey insisted that she clipped a nail. Bex beat me in every round (surprise, surprise).

"Great," Abby says approvingly, nodding. "Now, for the makeover."

"Yes!" Macey yells, punching the air.

Much to Macey and Bex's disappointment, Abby makes sure that everything we wear is 'appropriate'. My day's finally looking up a bit. No more slutty clothes! but everything Abby makes us wear is a bit, well… baggy.

"Are you sure you want us to wear this?" Macey sighs.

"Yes," Abby says.

"But-"

"No excuses," Abby interrupts. Then she smiles. "It's either this or you tear your clothes when you fight. You'll be naked then."

We all laugh, except for Macey who sulkily pulls on the clothes. Abby gives us each two knives and a tranquilizer gun that we all hide underneath our clothes. A bit OTT, right? She explains it's because she and Mom wanted us to have some _extra precautions _because the CoC are after me. I didn't say anything about Zach's deal with his mom. Yeah, that would mean the slutty clothes are back.

"What happened to fun Abby?" Macey groans.

"Don't worry, she's still here," Abby says with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Just wait until after school."

Bex and Macey look at each other with excitement. Liz and I look at each other with terror.

"Uh… We've got to help Dee Dee get ready for her date with Josh?" Liz volunteers hopefully.

Abby smiles. "Oh, that's no problem. You can bring her along too."

Me and Liz look at each other again. After a while of arguing, I convince Abby that we'll be safe enough to drive ourselves to school and we hop into the car. I whiz down to school, glad that we finally got away from Abby.

Before we step out the car, Mace shoves a pair of sunglasses in my hands.

"Put them on," she insists. I roll my eyes and put them on. _Now _we can step out of the car.

We walk down the corridor and everyone's staring at us. Yeah, I guess we must look slightly weird. Ever since Macey and Bex came to Roseville High, all four of us have been wearing stupid miniskirts and really short shorts to school and stuff like that. And now we walk in with our usual sunglasses, looking like we've been _jogging _or something.

"Whoa," Grant says as soon as he sees me.

I glare at him and point at my clothes. "You got a problem with this?"

"No," Grant smiles. "I love it."

Then he kisses me. Aw. I love this guy. He's so sweet sometimes. No, not sometimes. All the time.

**Bex's POV**

He kisses her right there. Right in front of me. My blood starts to boil with jealousy.

Of all people, why do I have to like my best friend's boyfriend? I hate it.

Then I notice Zach. His face is flushed and his fists are clenched like mine. _He likes Cammie, _I realise with shock. The enemy likes Cammie?! What the hell?! That makes me liking Grant look like nothing. And that makes me feel a tiny bit better.

When Grant is finished kissing Cammie, he looks at me. Glares, more like. But he's _so hot _when he's angry.

"We need to talk about your mental problems," he says, dragging me away from everyone else. He doesn't notice all the girls trying to hold back giggles. When we're in a nice quiet place (a store cupboard), he shouts, "What the hell is wrong with you?! You're stalking me! And I'm your _best friend's boyfriend! _That's just against the rules! And marrying at 16? That's just stupid. And men are supposed to propose to women, not the other way around!"

That was totally sexist, but when it came out of Grant's mouth, it's suddenly alright.

He continues anyway. "Look, to save you the trouble, I decided to get those therapist people I told you about and I booked an appointment for 5.30 tomorrow."

"You actually did that? Grant, I'm not actually that stupid. I phoned you as a dare on a sleepover with my friends," I tell him, staring at those soft lips. Wow they must be so nice to kiss… and Cammie was telling me about what a great kisser he is. "I don't actually want to marry you and I don't actually love you and I don't-" I stop abruptly, cos the last part is true. I _do _actually think he's the sexiest man alive. "Oh what the hell." I tell him and do the unthinkable. I kiss him.

At first Grant stiffens, like I'm a dirty rat, but then he melts into it too and we're having a heated make out session in the cupboard. Part of me is thinking, _stop this right now! Grant is Cammie's boyfriend, not yours! _But that part is ignored as the other part overwhelms me. The other part says, _These lips are as heavenly as Cammie said. God, he is such a good kisser._

3 mins and 12 seconds later, we break apart. Grant suddenly goes serious.

"If you say a _word _about this to anyone, you're dead," he growls and stalks out the room. He doesn't know that I could beat him in five seconds flat, but I wouldn't tell anyone anyway. Grant would hate me so much.

I can't believe I just did that. I'll never be able to look at Cammie in the eye again.

**Cammie's POV**

We head to our first lesson, giggling uncontrollably. Grant's probably yelling his head off at Bex right now.

First lesson: Algebra. Liz probably falls asleep in class. It must be _so _boring for her. I mean, it's boring for _me _and I flunked Gallagher Algebra.

Grant finally walks in, looking pissed.

"Hey, Grant," I smile at him, beckoning for him to sit next to me as usual. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he says quickly and bracelet tells me he's lying.

"Tell me," I say softly and I peck him on the cheek. He looks even more uncomfortable.

"Well, that Bex is driving me crazy," he tells me. My bracelet says truth.

"Why?" I gaze into his eyes.

"She's clearly a psycho stalker," he smiles a tiny bit. Truth, again.

I guess Bex decided not to tell him the truth.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that," I tell him.

"Yeah. I guess not," he says. He kisses me.

"Newman, Morgan," the teacher glares at us from the front of the classroom. I go rosy red. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Yes," Grant says with an equally matched glare. Then he turns to me. "Now where were we?"

He leans in to kiss me again. Aww, that's so sweet. Grant cares about me more than the teacher. We break apart when we see the teacher leaning over us.

"Would you two like a month's detention?" he barks. We both shake our heads. "Then stop doing that. This is your last warning."

When I turn back to Grant, he's looking at me, kinda sadly. "Cammie," he croaks. Wow. Big change of character. "I need… to talk with you about… something."

"Ok, then, go ahead," I smile at him.

"Not here," he says softly. "Outside. Say you've got to go to the toilet or something. I'll meet you outside my car in five minutes."

I nod, confused, but I put up my hand anyway.

"I have to go to the toilet," I blurt out.

Our Algebra teacher rolls his eyes. "This once, you can go."

I jump out my seat and rush out the door as though I'm desperate. Some of the jocks at the back of the class snigger. I rush down the stairs and into the car park, ducking behind Grant's car so no one can see me. He's parked his convertible in a good place. It's in the corner of the parking lot, in the shade. The bad thing? It's autumn, so his car is _covered _in leaves.

I crouch down and wait.

**Josh's POV**

I have _got _to talk to Cammie. I never told her how much I love her, or how much I know Grant is going to mess up their relationship.

So I hold up my emergency piece of paper and say, "Mr Richardson! I've got to go to my doc's appointment!"

He inspects my note, but it's obvious he can't read any of it, because all my forged notes are signed by my imaginary uncle who has 'bad handwriting'. Then he sees the signature and he just nods. I bet he hasn't noticed I've used the exact same note for all the times I've wanted to bunk off.

I walk out the classroom and head for Grant's car, the place where I overheard Grant telling Cammie he'd meet her.

**Grant's POV**

Rats. Josh used the excuse I was going to use to get out. I'll have to think of something – and fast. I _need _to talk to Cammie. I need to tell her about what Bex and I did in the store cupboard. Because I seriously won't be able to look her in the eye again until I do.

If I was dating anyone else, I probably wouldn't care. I'd just break up with them and hook up with someone else. But I can't do that to Cammie. She's different from anyone else.

"Mr Richardson!" I fake cough. "I feel pretty sick!"

Mr R rolls his eyes. "Don't tell me you're trying to bunk."

"I'm _not!"_

Mr R doesn't believe me. "Yeah. You are."

"No. I'm not."

"Don't lie to me, Newman."

"I'm not lying to you, Richardson."

"Just get on with your work."

I cough loudly.

"Stop it, Newman!"

"I can't stop coughing, Richardson!"

"That's _Mr _Richardson to you, Newman!"

I ignore his comment and quickly finish all the questions on the sheet. I didn't even work anything out. I just put down random numbers. I stand up and say loudly, "Finished!"

"Finally, you've decided to do the work, Newman!" Mr R says. "I'll come over to you and mark it in a sec."

"No, Richardson," I insist. "I'll come up to your desk."

I make a huge show of walking up to the front. Pretending I'm sick, I cough all over a load of people as I walk drunkenly.

"Newman!" Mr R shouts, when all the girls start squealing. "What are you doing?"

"It's not my fault, Richardson!" I reply. "I just felt a bit dizzy."

"maybe you _are_ sick after all," Mr R says doubtfully. "Fine. You'd better go to the school nurse but-"

He's cut off by my, "Yay, thanks, Richardson!" I sling my bag over my shoulder and hurry out.

**Cammie's POV**

"Hey," a voice comes from in front of the car. Phew. Grant's finally here. I was getting worried.

He crouches next to me and I realise that it isn't Grant. It's Josh.

"What are you doing here, Josh?" I say to him, trying not to sound too pissed and annoyed.

"Cammie, I have to talk to you," he says urgently, gazing into my eyes. "And I'm sure your make out session with Grant can wait."

"Fine, what is it?"

"I need to warn you, Grant's a player," he says worriedly.

"I know that," I roll my eyes.

"No, I'm not kidding. He _does _like you, Cammie. Anyone can see that. But that won't stop him from cheating on you. He might have cheated on you already."

"Grant will _not _cheat on me," I say firmly, suddenly feeling protective of my boyfriend.

He holds his hands up. "Ok, ok. But I'm just saying, he _will _break your heart."

"And I'm saying, Grant won't cheat on me," I snap at him.

He bristles and says loudly, "Just don't blame me when he does!"

I shout at him, "For the last time, Grant isn't going to cheat on me!"

"Fine, go protect your precious boyfriend, like you always do!" he shouts.

"Maybe I do, because he's a much better boyfriend than you ever were!" I scream. Then I realise what I just said and wish that I can take those words back. His eyes are brimming over with silent tears. I lower my voice, "I'm sorry, Josh."

"I'm sorry too," he apologises. Then he says quietly, "Cammie, I have to do this one thing, for the last time."

I'm about to object, when suddenly his lips are on mine. Oh, they are _so _soft. I feel like melting in them.

Stop it! I'm with Grant, not Josh! I try to push him away, but I don't use my spy combat skills because I don't want to hurt him. He has me pressed up against Grant's car. Grant's car! Talk about betraying your friend!

"Josh," I say against his lips. "Josh, stop it!"

He ignores me. I struggle weakly against his chest but I can't get him off me. I try to take my lips away from his, but he just follows my mouth sideways. This whole thing is SO WRONG! I mean, sure, I like Josh still, but I'm not with him anymore.

There's the sound of stomping coming towards us. Finally, Josh stops kissing me to look up, but his arms are still protectively around me. I look at the person too.

Grant.

"What are you two doing?!" he demands.

Josh quickly takes his arms off me and looks at Grant guiltily. He confesses, "Sorry, man, I-"

Grant doesn't wait for an answer. He just punches Josh right in the face. Josh staggers back, his hands covering his bloody nose. Then he picks me up, bridal style and walks away from Josh. I put my arms around his neck. Before I can explain anything, he kisses me briefly on my neck.

"But… you're… you don't hate me?" I say, bewildered.

He smiles weakly. "No, I saw you pushing him away from you. Plus, I heard your conversation before that." Then he pauses. "You don't think I'd cheat on you?"

I shake my head and smile at him. "I trust you, Grant. You're never going to cheat on me, I know that." Then I remember why he wanted me to come out into the car park. "What did you want to talk about, anyway?"

He quickly averts his gaze. "Nothing."

**What do u think? Like it?**


	11. Getting Ready

**Hey evrybody, how u doin? I got sum ideas 4 this fanfic, but culd any1 giv me ideas in case I run out? thx!**

**Dark. Angel. From. Above.: Knew u'd luv it!**

**Cammie-the-chameleon: Aw, sweet ur getting passionate about this fanfic! Btw, I ****_luv _****ur profile pic. Asdf is SO AWESUM!**

**Goode-Lover: I know, sad times, sad times. But it will get bettr!**

**LoudNProud: Ikr? Cammie's love life is so hectic.**

**Disclaimer, I don't own Gallagher Girls or whatever. Soz, I can't be bothrd to do a story this time.**

_Recap of last chapter_

_Josh quickly takes his arms off me and looks at Grant guiltily. He confesses, "Sorry, man, I-"_

_Grant doesn't wait for an answer. He just punches Josh right in the face. Josh staggers back, his hands covering his bloody nose. Then he picks me up, bridal style and walks away from Josh. I put my arms around his neck. Before I can explain anything, he kisses me briefly on my neck._

_"But… you're… you don't hate me?" I say, bewildered._

_He smiles weakly. "No, I saw you pushing him away from you. Plus, I heard your conversation before that." Then he pauses. "You don't think I'd cheat on you?"_

_I shake my head and smile at him. "I trust you, Grant. You're never going to cheat on me, I know that." Then I remember why he wanted me to come out into the car park. "What did you want to talk about, anyway?"_

_He quickly averts his gaze. "Nothing."_

**Cammie's POV**

"Hmm…" Macey thinks aloud. "Should Dee Dee go for irresistible and sexy or cute and girly?"

"Cute and girly," Liz says.

"Irresistible and sexy," Bex says at the same time.

"Cammie, it's up to you," Macey looks at me. I can feel everyone's eyes on me.

"Uh… uh…" I start lamely. I can't believe I'm voting on how Dee Dee should look on her date with Josh. Not after Josh _kissed _me today. "Uh…"

Bex rolls her eyes. "Come on, Cam, we don't have all day."

"Uh… irresistible and sexy," I say nervously. "We want Josh to fall for her, not think she's a clingy weirdo."

"Thanks, Cammie!" Dee smiles at me.

"You're welcome," I squeak, without looking at her.

"Are you feeling ok?" Macey frowns at me.

"Yes," I say quickly.

Liz and Macey look at me like _we'll talk about this later. _I gulp. That means confrontation.

Bex is staring at the floor guiltily. I don't know what's up, but it's been going on since this morning. She's been acting distant towards me. Whenever Macey, Liz or even Dee Dee talks to her, she's totally fine, but if I ask her something, she's totally quiet.

There's an awkward silence.

Three hours later, Dee Dee's looking like a totally different person. She looks powerful rather than small. I bet that if a stranger would look at this new Dee Dee and Josh walking hand in hand down the street, they would think that they were meant for each other. The popular boy with the powerful girl.

A pang of jealousy stabs at my heart and I immediately get angry with myself. I'm so selfish. Dee Dee's the one who deserves Josh, not me. I've got Grant, yet I want Josh to be mine too, even though others might want him more than I do.

I force myself to compliment her. It's true though. She looks _perfect. _Of course, I didn't really do much. I'm not 'fashionable' enough. *roll my eyes* Me and Liz were basically getting stuff for them like the hair straightener or a cup of coffee so that Dee Dee will be as awake as possible during the date.

"Do you think I look ok?" Dee Dee says nervously, staring at herself in the mirror.

"Come on," Macey glares at Dee Dee. "Give us _some _credit at least!"

"Yeah, I'll admit, you're both good," Dee Dee laughs. "But why the hell would you put me in this? Jeez, it is _freezing _in this thing!"

"I know what you're talking about," I smile. "Those two are absolutely crazy when it comes to fashion."

Usually would have put a hand over her heart and say dramatically, "Offensive!" But today she was silent.

Somebody rings the doorbell.

"Josh!" Dee Dee squeals and starts to run towards the door.

I don't know why, but it seems like instinct when I catch Dee Dee's hand. Everyone's looking at me a bit weirdly, so I quickly make up a realistic excuse. "We don't want Josh to see Little Miss Beautiful here in the doorway. We want him to see her in the dazzling lounge. I'll go get it."

Everybody agrees, even Bex, who I expected would just stare at the floor like she has been whenever I speak. Macey's got a sparkle in her eye though, as though she can see right through my excuse. She knows that I still like Josh. *Sigh* I wish she wasn't so clever when it comes to boys and relationships. It's like she can see _verything._

I quickly rush out of the sitting room, brushing myself down as soon as Liz, Bex, Macey and Dee Dee can't see me. I open the door, taking a deep breath. Josh is there, as attractive as ever.

"Hey… Cammie…" he trails off awkwardly and I remember what happened in the car park today. Oh God, his lips were so good then.

I smile at him, as though I haven't noticed his awkwardness. "Hey Josh. I see _somebody's _cleaned up for his date."

He blushes slightly and I feel like smirking. Wait a sec, that's what Zach would do, not me. Since when did I start acting like Zach?

Josh explains, "Dee Dee doesn't deserve me. She deserves someone much better, but if she's stuck with me-"

"Shh," I say softly, putting a finger to his lips. "You guys both deserve each other. You're both great kind people and you should go together. I bet you'll be a perfect match. Just wait til after this date. You'll be all over each other." I try to ignore the lump in my throat and the sinking feeling in my stomach. I should _not _be jealous of Dee Dee. I'm supposed to be the happy friend who feels proud of her. "Well anyway, I suppose I should show you to our sitting room."

"Sure," he says, a little dazed that I thought they'd be all over each other.

**Josh's POV**

"Shh," she says softly, putting a finger to my lips. "You guys both deserve each other. You're both great kind people and you should go together. I bet you'll be a perfect match. Just wait til after this date. You'll be all over each other." What?! Cammie must be totally over me, if she could just say that so indifferently. I know it shouldn't but it kind of makes me a little sad that my ex-girlfriend feels nothing towards me. I guess she _didn't _really like me after all. "Well anyway, I suppose I should show you to our sitting room."

"Sure," I tell her, blinking. She's acting like some sort of tour guide, not a friend and an ex-girlfriend.

As she walks past me, her shoulder brushes mine. She looks at me, surprised, and it makes her face scrunch up in this adorable way. I can't help the smile that slides up my face, but I do regret it, when she turns away, blushing and growls in a gruff voice, "This way, please."

I follow her into the sitting room. Bex, Macey and Liz are there, with some really hot girl. I assume she's a Gallagher girl. Bex and Macey and Liz are looking at me as though they want me to say something. And the other girl is beaming at me, although I don't know why since we haven't even met yet.

"Where's Dee Dee?" I ask.

Cammie slaps me playfully on the shoulder. "Stop messing around, Josh. We all know she looks way different. You might as well go hug her or say hi or something."

I blink at her. "Say what?"

The other girl speaks up, though her beaming face is no longer beaming. "I'm Dee Dee, Josh. Don't you even recognise me?"

I stare at the girl in astonishment, although now I've noticed this girl has the same features as Dee Dee does, the same colour hair, even though there are a highlights in them now. "Dee Dee?" I gasp.

"Yes," she says, her eyes brimming up with tears. Macey and Bex look furious with me. Liz rushes towards her friend and puts an arm round her. I turn to Cammie. She's looking guilty. I guess that's because I kissed her today.

Then I turn back to Dee Dee. "Dee Dee, you look amazing."

She blinks in mild confusion. "What?"

"You look beautiful," I repeat. It's true though. She looks dazzling. Not as much as Cammie could be, but she's almost there.

"Really?" she asks, her eyes shining. "You think so?"

"Course I do," I reassure her. Bex is glaring at me, silently telling me that she will kill me if I hurt Dee Dee. And I absolutely believe her. "Let's go."

Dee Dee nods and beams at me.

**Cammie's POV**

They walk out the door. That's when Abby walks out from the shadows and Liz screams in surprise.

"Come on, you girls should've seen me there," she grins. "You're all getting sloppy. Are you all ready?"

Macey frowns. "Ready for what?"

"To spy on Dee Dee and Josh, obviously," Abby rolls her eyes.

"But that's invading their privacy," Liz points out.

"And you need the practice," Abby argues.

"That's true," Bex says at the same time that I say, "Fine then."

Bex looks up at me for a second, and then she looks back down quickly.

"Three against two," Abby smirks.

Macey scowls, but she grudgingly hides a weapon under her clothes, like the rest of do. Then we all leave the apartment, except for Liz, who's staying behind as our research and track person.

**What do u think? Soz, I know it's a short chapter compared 2 the othrs, but i just went on a school trip 4 3 days so i didnt hav much time. Plz plz plz review! seriously, if werent 4 reviews i wulda stopd writing this story aftr the 1st chaptr.**

** .**

**xx**


	12. Zach, what are you doing here?

**No one's POV (comms units)**

Abby: I've got eyeball on the Subjects.

Bex: Me too.

Macey: Damn, Josh has seen me.

Cammie: Right, I'm coming your way, Peacock. I'm coming out of Hollister.

Macey: Phew. That was way too close.

Abby: Yep. You're _definitely _out of shape. How many men are here wearing white shoes?

Bex: Three.

Cammie: No, four.

Abby: Very good, Chameleon.

Macey: I've lost eyeball.

Bex: Me too. Bookworm, have they gone into the ice rink yet?

Liz: Josh's tracking device says he's heading towards the rink right now.

Abby: Let's head towards there in a couple of minutes.

Bex: Can't we go there now?

Abby: Patience is a virtue, Duchess.

Bex: Whatever. Who's going in first?

Cammie: I will.

Abby: Fine. Peacock, how many security cameras are there on this street?

Macey: Erm… Five?

Abby: No. Duchess?

Bex: I've seen eight.

Cammie: Wait a second. Zach, what are you doing here?

**Cammie's POV**

"Wait a second," I say through my comms. Then I turn to the boy in front of me. "Zach, what are you doing here?"

He smirks infuriatingly and doesn't reply. I growl frustratingly.

Then he says, "Let's just say… that I'm looking out for Josh, like a good friend."

I scowl at him. "That's not the real reason you're here, is it?"

He rolls his eyes. "Duh. But I'm going to keep that a secret."

My friends and Abby's voices are shouting at me through my comms unit to get away from the CoC member. I ignore them. Zach isn't CoC anymore, so I can talk to him whenever I like.

"You should hide your comms unit better," he tells me. "No ordinary person could see it, but unfortunately for you, if the Circle of Cavan was here, they would see it as soon as they set their eyes on you."

"Really?" I ask him, wide eyed. "I thought that I hid it quite well."

He shakes his head and steps closer, making me shiver a bit. "I'll hid it better." He takes it out of my hiding place and places it close to the back of my neck. Then he takes my hair out of the ponytail that I did earlier on. He lets it hang loose, so that it covers up the comms unit. "There, that's better."

"Thanks," I say awkwardly, blushing. He's literally touching me, that's how close we are.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Bex entering the building and throwing her hands up in the air at me. She starts heading our direction.

"Uh…" I start. Zach raises his eyebrows. I hint, "So how's your secret crush?" so that he will get off me. I take a small step back.

"She's peachy," Zach grins. He takes a small step forward. Is he _toying _aroundwith me? Stupid players. You can never tell with them.

"So are you going to tell me what her name is?" I ask, stepping back again. My back hits the wall. Uh oh. I can't back up anymore.

"Maybe, maybe not," he considers, stepping towards me again. Then he looks directly into my eyes. "Let's talk about your love life for a change."

"What about it?" I say, my voice quivering a bit.

He tells me, perfectly serious, "When Josh told you that Grant will cheat on you, he was telling the truth."

I narrow my eyes at him. "Grant wouldn't cheat on me." Bex trips up a bit while she walks. Odd.

Zach continues to stare into my eyes and steps even closer. "He's got four girls pregnant already and we're not even seniors yet. Most of the girls at Roseville High have been dumped by him. All of the girls, if you put me and Grant together. What makes you think you're different?"

"I… I…" I scrabble for an answer, but can't find one. "He's… He's just so sweet. I can't imagine him being so heartless. I can't imagine him cheating on me."

"That's what all the other girls said," he looks genuinely concerned. "But look what happened to them."

"He wouldn't," I say defiantly. "He won't dump me."

"Do you want to have a bet? Five quid?"

"Like how you betted with your friend whether he could hit off a girl?"

Zach's grin falters a bit. "Uh… yeah."

"Fine. I bet that Grant will not dump me for some other girl," I say, my chin held high. We shake hands.

"Chameleon, what are you doing?" Abby demands. "We're supposed to be on a mission."

"Sorry," I tell her. Zach frowns at me in confusion. He _is _pretty cute. I mentally slap myself. Then he realises I'm talking to Abby.

"It _is _pretty entertaining though," Macey says. "And now we all know about your love life."

Liz says nervously, "Isn't Zach the CoC member? Isn't it dangerous for Cammie to be talking to him?"

"Yes," Abby confirms. "Chameleon, get away from him _right now_!"

I sigh and say deliberately loudly, "Zach, I have to go now. But now THAT YOU'RE NOT A CIRCLE MEMBER, we can be friends, right?"

Zach breaks into a huge grin. "Sure."

"See ya later then," I wave as I walk away.

**Soz evry1, this is going 2 be the shortest chappie evr, promise! I wont do 1 as short as this again! But u cant blame me, ive got writers block nd it ws a good place 2 end. Plus, I did it in 3 days, so u no, I hope u rnt 2 upset about it.  
Great ZAMMIE chaptr, 4 all u zammie-lovrs! Right? PLEEZ REVIEW!**


	13. Confession Time

**I'm SO SORRY 2 anybody who reviewd about chap 12 nd who i didn't reply 2! i 4got about reviews so I put my replies here insted.**

**CHAPTER 12 REVIEWS**

**LoudNProud: Yeah, it must be so hard 4 Bex. Lik th longr she waits 2 tell cammie, the worse it gets 4 her. :( oh I guess I answrd ur qstn in chap 13**

**Dark. Angel. From. Above.: Yeh I nevr thought it wud work eithr! I mean, loads of ppl make grant and cammie siblings. EWWW! She'd be dating her bro… ;P**

**MigiLove2143: Glad 2 know u think its good! Sometimes it's good to get reviews that are just short and simple, like urs!**

**Goode-Lover: U lik Josh not liking cammie?! Oh yeh, I spose it wud just be sad if he was a sad loner or sumthing!**

**Cammie-the-chameleon: U got everything straight alredy! I kinda usd ur idea whn I made Zach come 2 th date, thx so much!**

**BrOwNiE: Awwwww, ur SO sweet! U reviewd so many times! THX SO MUCH! I'm gonna dedicate this chappie 2 u! Oh and btw, Bex and Grant 2gether is Brant.**

**CHAPTER 13 REVIEWS**

** . .: Haha lol. Yeh Zach **_**has **_**won the bet already! Cammie is **_**so **_**clueless. **

**Guest: Thx 4 liking th disclaimrs! I'll go back 2 doing them. Cammie **_**does **_**usually listens when people tell her to do stuff, but she knew Zach was safe, so she didn't need to listen. Hope that explains stuff a bit.**

**ColleenPayneSwiftieDirection er: I'm LOVING the enthusiasm! Don't worry, more Zammie moments coming ur way!**

**Goode-Lover: It's totally not weird! I do that when I read books and fanfics all the time! So ur a Zammie person then?**

**Cammie-the-Chameleon: I'm not going 2 have the break up in this chappie, but Zach **_**is **_**going 2 be doing some comforting!**

**LoudNProud: I was grinning like a mad person when I read your review. It's just SO GOOD to see a review and yours was really sweet.**

**I dedicate this chapter to BrOwNiE.**

_Recap of last chapter_

"_Chameleon, what are you doing?" Abby demands. "We're supposed to be on a mission."_

"_Sorry," I tell her. Zach frowns at me in confusion. He is pretty cute. I mentally slap myself. Then he realises I'm talking to Abby._

"_It is pretty entertaining though," Macey says. "And now we all know about your love life."_

_Liz says nervously, "Isn't Zach the CoC member? Isn't it dangerous for Cammie to be talking to him?"_

"_Yes," Abby confirms. "Chameleon, get away from him right now!"_

_I sigh and say deliberately loudly, "Zach, I have to go now. But now THAT YOU'RE NOT A CIRCLE MEMBER, we can be friends, right?"_

_Zach breaks into a huge grin. "Sure."_

"_See ya later then," I wave as I walk away._

**Cammie's POV**

"How did it go?" I ask, pretending that we weren't watching the date.

Dee Dee rolls her eyes. "Why don't you ask Bex, Liz and Mace? They were there. You know, I'm pretty sure you must've come too, Cammie. It would be weird if your friends came along and you didn't."

Abby raises her eyebrows. "I told you kids you're all getting sloppy."

"Yeah, but tell us anyway," I tell her, ignoring Aunt Abby.

"It was brilliant," Dee Dee breathes. "I basically pretended I wasn't good at ice skating, so he put his arms around me."

We all say, "Aww!" But inside, I'm feeling really jealous of Dee Dee.

**Bex's POV**

Monday – back to school. Ugh.

As soon as I walk through the door, there's a hand pulling me away from my friends. I'm about to use one of the new kicks that Abby taught us, when I realise it's Grant.

"Grant, what are you doing?" I demand, although I'm guiltily glad that he's dragging me away, not Cammie. He doesn't answer, just pulls me along into the same storage cupboard where we kissed last time.

Then he turns towards me. "Have you told Cammie?" he says urgently.

I shake my head. "You'd better be happy because I've been guilty aas hell around her for ages."

He quickly thanks me, looking at my lips. I smile.

"Liking what you see?" I flirt.

"Yeah, but you're liking my lips much better," he flirts back.

I turn bright pink. Then we're kissing passionately. I have no idea whether I was the one to kiss him, or the other way round but suddenly nothing else matters.

**Macey's POV**

I'm outside my locker, when I hear footsteps behind me. It's Dillon.

"Hey, Macey," he greets.

"Dillon, what are you doing here?" I flash a sweet smile at him. "Your locker is over there, stupid."

"Really? I didn't know that even though I've been at this school for longer than you," he says back, equally sweetly. "How about you give me a tour of the school, since you know so much about it?"

"ok," I shrug. My friends are looking at each other and grinning. I step on Cammie's foot, hard. She stops smiling.

We start walking around the school, sitting slightly closer than I would have liked with any other boy, but with Dillon it suddenly seems fine.

"These are the kitchens," I say, pointing. "That's the cafeteria… These are the girls' toilets – don't you dare go in there by the way…"

Dillon laughs. I keep pointing out stuff, when he suddenly stops.

"You haven't introduced the store cupboard," he says.

I roll my eyes. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Because that's me, Zach, Grant and Josh's secret place for making out," he explains.

I'm pretty sure I'm blushing. Macey McHenry and blushing just _don't _go together. But somehow, that's what I'm doing. "Um… I'm pretty sure we're late for class…" I try to excuse myself.

"Since when has Macey McHenry, daughter of Sena-"

"Nuh-uh," I say, putting a finger to his lips and grinning at him evilly. "If you ever call me the daughter of the Senator, I will rip out your guts and feed them to cannibals, while you're alive and watching."

"Ok, ok," he says, putting his hands up. "But my point is, since when have you stopped being rebellious."

"I am!" I object.

"If you are, then why are you so eager to get to class?" he says, while dragging me towards the store cupboard. "Besides, you'll find it _very _interesting."

He waggles his eyebrows and I turn even pinker. Wow, this boy can do wonders on me. He laughs at my shyness, before opening the door.

Inside are Bex and Grant, both of them topless, and making out passionately. I gasp loudly. Even Dillon, who finds everything hilarious and who doesn't even like Cammie much from last year, looks horrified.

They look up and quickly step apart.

"I can explain…" Bex trails off.

I turn to run and tell Cammie, but Bex catches my wrist. Damn Bex's stupid quick reflexes.

"Just… please don't tell Cammie," Bex pleads.

"I'm giving you three days to tell her yourself and then I'll tell her, and boy she won't be happy about that," I say to Bex coldly.

She nods gratefully. Then I pull my hand out of her grasp and pull Dillon away with me.

**Cammie's POV**

We sit down at the table for lunch. Bex comes over to our table with her tray. She sits next to Macey who gets up as soon as Bex comes and sits in the place furthest from Bex. That was a bit odd. Then I notice Bex staring at me, so I look up, but she suddenly looks down. That's odd too. Josh comes over to our table too and squeezes between me and Dee Dee. Weird. He could've just sat on the empty chair on Dee Dee's other side. Dee snuggles into him, although he looks uncomfortable. Dillon sits next to Macey, which is strange because he always sits next to Dee Dee or one of the guys. It's like there's a disease on all Gallagher girls and he doesn't want to get it on him. Then he touches her hand and I grin widely, realising they're together. I feel Macey kick me under the table and I swear in Farsi, earning me strange looks from everyone. Liz keeps glancing at Jonas although he doesn't really notice because he's talking to Bex. Zach looks like he's going to sit next to me, but takes one look at Grant and quickly sits next to Liz. Grant walks to the table and looks hesitant and nervous when he sits next to me. He never acts like that around me.

"Cammie, are you… angry with me for any reason?" he asks in a low voice but Zach, Bex, Liz and Mace can hear, being the spies they are.

"No, not really," I smile at him, pecking him on the cheek.

Macey chokes on her food. Definitely weird.

"Oh, ok then," he grins and starts kissing me.

When we finally break apart, I ask him, "Why did you think I'd be angry with you?"

"Oh, I don't know, most girls I date think I've cheated on them by this point," he shrugs.

I whisper in his ear, "I know you'd never cheat on me."

Macey stiffens and I narrow my eyes.

"Macey, you've been acting weird all day," I say suspiciously. "Is there something going on between you and Grant?"

Her jaw drops open. "Cammie, I know why you might think that, because I have been acting weird all day, especially around you, but I can't tell you why. Wait three days, and I'll be able to tell you but I swear on my life_, _I have nothing going on with Grant. I would never _stoop so low. _He's yours and _I'd never kiss my best friend's boyfriend,_" she says the last bit really loudly. Then she continues, "Anyway, I think it's time to tell you guys about me and Dillon. We're together now."

She smiles so happily, more happily than ever before, that I know nothing could've happened between her and Grant. If she really loves Dillon that much, she wouldn't cheat on him. We all cheer for her and Dillon, and when Dillon bends in to kiss her, we all go wild.

"About time!" Dee Dee shouts. "You guys had this coming for ages!"

We all laugh.

**[One hour later]**

We're in our Religious Studies lesson, learning about philosophy. The subject is: _Should you tell someone something even if it will hurt them or should you keep it a secret?_

Just like Josh kissing me.

I decide to listen in for the first time in history. We didn't really do this type of thing at Gallagher. More spying and less thinking. If you spent your time thinking stuff like this, it would cost you your life, along with many other people.

Someone says, "If you told the person, they would hate you, but it would be better than if you didn't, and it was on your conscience."

"Yes, but it would mean they'd hate you, so it's better not to do it," someone else argued. "And they'd be hurting. It would be worse."

The first person used an example (very similar to my situation). "Say Person A was dating Person B and was friends with Person C, who has liked Person B all their life. Person B and C cheat on Person A, what would you feel like if you were Person A and saw them cheating on Person A? What if you were Person C and you didn't know what to do, but you were feeling really guilty?"

I suddenly stand up. That person was right. I shouldn't keep hiding it from Dee Dee.

Out of the corner of the eye, I see Bex standing up too.

Everyone is looking at me. "I don't know why, but I suddenly need the toilet. Dee Dee does too. Can't you see the desperation on her face?"

Everyone laughs, because all that is on her face is confusion. Bex sits slowly back down again.

Ignoring the teacher's look, I drag her into the toilets.

"Dee Dee, I need to tell you something," I say urgently. "Josh kissed me on the day of your date, in the morning."

The hurt in Dee Dee's eyes was unbearable. "So… Josh doesn't like me then?" her voice wobbled.

"No!" I shouted, then lowered my voice again. "No, you should've seen him when he came to pick you up. He was literally drooling."

"You think so?" she asks excitedly. Then she stops again. "Look, Cammie, I need to know. Was that the only time something like that you guys kissed?"

I nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I just didn't have the guts."

"It must have been horrible for you," she said sympathetically.

"What?!" I spluttered. "Your best friend and your boyfriend kiss and your say it must have been horrible for _me_!"

God, Dee Dee is a nice girl.

"Yeah," she said, with a small sad smile. "You didn't know what to do for three whole days!"

"You were the one who got cheated on," I point out.

She says softly, "But I'm willing to let that pass. Josh and I weren't officially going out yet, so he could do whatever he wanted. And Cammie, I know there will always be a space in his heart for you, so I kind of expected it to happen anyway, and I'll only get worried if he keeps kissing you. And thanks so much for telling me."

"You're welcome," I say awkwardly and we walk out of the bathroom. I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my back.

We're on our way back when Dee Dee suddenly says, "I'm sorry."

I turn to face her. "What?!"

"I'm sorry, because I knew you would always like Josh, but I went ahead and asked him out anyway."

I shrug. "I'm totally over him."

She looks into my eyes, deadly serious. "You know, you're usually so good at hiding your emotions. I don't know how, but you are. But whenever Josh comes along or we even _mention _him, all your feelings about him come spilling out. You are totally _not _over him."

I bite my lip. "How many people know that?"

"About everyone in the school," Dee Dee shrugs. "Everyone knows Josh likes you a lot too. People have started betting on whether you're going to get back together."

"What?!" I splutter. "But we aren't going to get together! He's got you and I've got Grant now!"

Dee Dee shakes her head. "You know, I don't know if you've noticed, but after about one week since you and Grant got together, people decided that you and Josh are a better couple than you and Grant. Congrats by the way, for being hottest couple five times in a row with Josh."

My jaw drops open. "People can't do that!"

"Yes, they can," Dee Dee nods sadly.

Then we are outside the classroom.

I can't believe I didn't notice everything that is going on around me! It's like CoveOps Rule #1! Mr Solomon would be so ashamed.

When we step into the classroom, everyone is looking at us. I guess I did make it kinda obvious that I had brought Dee Dee out of the classroom to tell her some sort of secret that would hurt her and make her mad at me. We had been learning about it just now, and Josh is Dee Dee's boyfriend and my ex. Yep. Very obvious.

Luckily, the teacher is so into his book or whatever, that he doesn't even care what we're doing.

"Uh… we cleared it up?" I say hopelessly, but it sounds more like a question.

"Yeah, right," Dillon says sarcastically.

"We have!" I insist.

Dee nods. "Yeah, we have actually."

"See?" the person who said that confessing is good. "I'm right!"

The class starts muttering and whispering towards each other. Then another two people get up. Soon, about half of the class is outside, confessing. A _lot _of people.

"Hey, Macey," Dillon says kind of awkwardly.

"Yeah?" Macey asks, looking up from a magazine, into his eyes.

"Doyawannagooutwivme?" Dillon rushes out.

"Smooth, bro," Grant sniggers. I whack Grant, before sitting on his lap.

"What was that?" Macey asks, looking back at her magazine.

"Do you… do you want to go out on a date with me?"

Macey rolls her eyes. "About time, lover boy. 'Course I'll go with you."

Then she gets up and leans really close to him. Dillon closes his eyes, as though waiting for her to kiss him. To everyone else in the class, they look like they're kissing, but because of our spy training, me, Bex, Liz and Zach can hear her whisper, "You thought I was going to kiss you, didn't you, lover boy? Well, you'll have to wait until Friday!" Then she turns and walks back towards her seat, saying loudly over her shoulder, "Friday, 7.30, at the cinema in the mall, lover boy! Be there!"

Picking up her handbag, she walks out of the classroom and all the people who are coming back from their confession time let her through them. She shouts to the teacher, "Good afternoon, everyone! Have a nice lesson!"

"Oi!" the teacher yells. "Come back here, Miss McHenry!" He rushes out the door after her.

"We'd better go after her," I tell Liz, Dee Dee and Bex. Liz and Bex nod, but Dee Dee says she should stay with her old friends for once. I can understand that. There are moments when I just want it to be like old times again, with just me, Liz, Bex and Macey. So I go to the front of the classroom and call out, "Class dismissed!" and walk out.

We're searching for Macey when suddenly Liz points out of a window.

She shouts, "There she is!"

Bex and I look out too. Liz is right. There's Macey, running across the parking lot, our RS teacher hot on her heels. It's hilarious.

Laughing so hard, I stagger out to the parking lot and it's kind of like a wild goose chase.

Then we spot Macey kicking our teacher in the place where the sun don't shine. Hilarious. Luckily for Gallagher, she purposefully kicked in an amateur way, so nobody would suspect anything. Our teacher doubled over in pain.

Macey jumps into my Mini and we follow her into my car. Macey drives off speedily. We're going to be in SO much trouble when we come back. Oh well, who cares?

**Tell me what you think about this chappie…**

**Slow?**

**Boring?**

**Pointless?**

**Good?**

**Bad?**

**R&R PLZ EVERY1!**


	14. CoveOps with Gallagher

**So… here's the next chapter! Hope you like it…**

** xx**

**gallaghergirl2673: Short, snappy, but brilliant! Thx SO MUCH!**

**Cammie-the-chameleon: Pointless? NEVER!**

**ColleenPayneSwiftieDirection er: I love Zach too! Zach was so cute!**

**preunka: I'm ****_so _****sorry but I can't reveal whether its grammie, jammie, or zammie yet! I know, I'm so mean, but all will be revealed soon!**

**Pookiecorn: You like them? THX SO MUCH!**

_Last chapter_

_ "Friday, 7.30, at the cinema in the mall, lover boy! Be there!" Picking up her handbag, she walks out of the classroom and all the people who are coming back from their confession time let her through them. She shouts to the teacher, "Good afternoon, everyone! Have a nice lesson!"_

_"Oi!" the teacher yells. "Come back here, Miss McHenry!" He rushes out the door after her._

_"We'd better go after her," I tell Liz, Dee Dee and Bex. Liz and Bex nod, but Dee Dee says she should stay with her old friends for once. I can understand that. There are moments when I just want it to be like old times again, with just me, Liz, Bex and Macey. So I go to the front of the classroom and call out, "Class dismissed!" and walk out._

_We're searching for Macey when suddenly Liz points out of a window._

_She shouts, "There she is!" _

_Bex and I look out too. Liz is right. There's Macey, running across the parking lot, our RS teacher hot on her heels. It's hilarious._

_Laughing so hard, I stagger out to the parking lot and it's kind of like a wild goose chase._

_Then we spot Macey kicking our teacher in the place where the sun don't shine. Hilarious. Luckily for Gallagher, she purposefully kicked in an amateur way, so nobody would suspect anything. Our teacher doubled over in pain._

_Macey jumps into my Mini and we follow her into my car. Macey drives off speedily. We're going to be in SO much trouble when we come back. Oh well, who cares?_

**Cammie's POV**

"Do you think that Abby's in there?" Macey says suspiciously.

"Nah," I tell her. "She said she's helping out on a Gallagher CoveOps mission."

I unlock the door and step in…

To find Aunt Abby glaring at me.

"Girls, do you always skip class when I'm on missions or helping Gallagher?" she frowns.

I shake my head. "Only today."

"I see," she says, with the same intense look as before. "And why aren't you at school?"

"Macey kneed our RS teacher in the groin," Bex stated with a neutral face. "We had to get a fast getaway."

"I see…" Aunt Abby said, her face relaxing. "Well, I guess we could go shopping then. To the mall!"

"Yes!" Macey yells, and she and Bex high five.

With a faint smile, Aunt Abby says, "Well, let's go then."

Half an hour later, we're walking through the mall, Macey dragging us into literally every store. She's buying so much from each shop that I swear, if you put all the clothes she's bought together, it could fill my bedroom top to bottom. We all have to stumble along, each with enough clothes to last a lifetime. It's so heavy that we almost collapse, and that's coming from a Gallagher girl! But we're too busy feeling giddy about the fact that Aunt Abby didn't make us go back to school. Bex and I are playing 'spot the cameras', which is relatively easy, but still fun. Liz and Aunt Abby are talking about the properties of some sort of medicine or something.

"Well, I've got to buy some food for dinner," Abby says suddenly, and hurries off in some random direction. She calls out, "I'll meet you back here in three hours!"

"Ok then…?" Bex says suspiciously.

Macey shrugs and says happily, "Don't look so suspicious! We've got three hours with no overprotective Cammie's aunt!"

"Hey!" I grin, slapping Macey lightly on the arm.

We start walking around, laughing and joking and generally having a great time. It's just like the old days, when we were back at Gallagher. Just us four having fun. Even Bex, who has been acting distant ever since the day when me and Josh kissed, has been having the same amount of fun as the rest of us.

Wait a second.

Bex has been distant since the day me and Josh kissed. Right?

So that must mean…

Bex likes Josh?

Say what?

Since when has my life become so complicated?

**Pros and Cons of Your BFF Liking Your Ex**

**Pro: You now know why she's been distant for ages.**

**Con: She likes the boy you like.**

**Pro: You're not dating the boy anymore.**

**Con: Your other friend is.**

**Pro: You can tell your BFF what your ex likes and dislikes.**

**Con: If they get together, it's gonna break your heart.**

**Pro: Now you have a good reason to make you stop loving your ex.**

**Con: If they get together, your other friend is gonna have a broken heart too.**

Well, at least I've got those things straight. Right?

I've got to do something about it.

"Let's go to Starbucks," I say suddenly. Everyone looks at me. I explain, "Uh… I'm hungry."

We all head over to Starbucks and sit down, after we buy our coffee and hot chocolates. Macey looks annoyed and keeps looking longingly at Hollister, which is the shop across from Starbucks and Liz clumsily spilled her coffee all over. I bite my lip to stop myself from smiling. I have to be serious for this. Under the table, I reach for my truth bracelet in my pocket and quickly put it on.

"Bex, I need to ask you something."

"What?" she says nervously.

"Are you…" I begin awkwardly. "Uh… Do you like Josh? I mean… like _like _Josh?"

Bex looks surprised. "What?! Why would you think that?"

The bracelet doesn't buzz, which means that either Bex is a really good liar. Or that she's telling the truth.

"I mean, on the day that me and Josh kissed…" I trail off when I see that my three best friends are staring at me excitedly.

"You and Josh kissed?" Bex laughs with happiness for me. "Macey, Liz, what does that mean?"

We looked at Macey and Liz, our Boy to English translators.

"It means…" Liz starts.

"That he's into you!" Macey finishes.

I blush a furious red. "Macey, Liz, Bex, you guys are sweet. But I'm not with Josh anymore. We've gone our separate ways."

"Aw, come on," Macey groans. "Dee Dee told us about the conversation you had with Josh after you crashed their sleepover." I stiffen instantly, but Macey pretends not to notice. "You guys both love each other, it's obvious. You weren't meant to be with Grant anyway. He's a heartless bastard."

I wince when she mentions Grant and say quietly, "Not you too. Everyone keeps coming up to me and telling me: _Oh, stay away from Grant! He's evil! _But the thing is, I'm pretty sure he won't dump me! For the last time!"

Macey looks directly into my eyes when she says, "Grant is a heartless, cheating son of a bitch."

My bracelet doesn't beep. She must mean that Grant _was _a heartless, cheating son of a bitch. Not is. Right?

"Cammie…" Bex says quietly, pain in her eyes.

Then it dawns on me. Bex likes Grant? That explains why she never laughs or jokes about me and Grant kissing, while everyone else does.

**Pros and Cons of Your BFF Liking Your Boyfriend**

**Pro: ****_Now _****you know the real reason she's been acting so distant.**

**Con: It is a ****_lot _****worse than your BFF liking your ex.**

**Pro: Now you have more control over the situation, like you can now dump your boyfriend so your friend can jump in and become his girlfriend.**

**Con: Your boyfriend will hate you.**

**Pro: You don't need to feel guilty for dumping your boyfriend, because you had a good reason for it.**

**Con: You'll be single.**

**Pro: You don't need to worry about boyfriend problems.**

**Con: You didn't have any problems with your boyfriend, so the previous pro was pointless.**

"You like Grant, don't you?" I stare at her.

She gulps and says in a scared voice, "No…"

My bracelet buzzes. I cover my mouth with my hands.

Bex likes Grant!

"Shit," I whisper.

Bex quickly says, "Cammie, I'm so sorry-"

"No," I interrupt. "_I'm _the one who should be sorry. I was too blind to even notice my BFF's feelings. I was stupid and I'm sorry. I'll sort all of this out."

Bex fumbles with her sleeves. "So you're not… angry with me for any reason?"

I shake my head and Bex relaxes. Odd. Why would she be scared of me. She didn't do anything wrong.

"Well," Macey glares at Bex for some reason. "Now we've sorted that out, let's go do some more shopping!"

Bex jumps up with Macey, while Liz and I groan. A few minutes later, we're walking around, chatting and laughing, the awkwardness all gone, when I feel a prickling feeling at the back of my neck. I pretend to continue giggling, when actually, I'm looking around me.

I notice some of the Gallagher girls tailing us. Interesting.

"Guys, let's… uh… go into this shop," I say loudly.

My friends look at me a bit weirdly. I continue to drag them into the shop. I take some random clothes off the rack.

"Here, here, and here," I say dumping the clothes on my friends. "Go try them out."

Macey starts to protest that the clothes are disgusting, when I snarl and she quickly holds her hands up in surrender. We each go into dressing rooms next to each other to try out the clothes.

I take out the spare comms units I have in my bag. I take one before quickly, I write a note:

_Gallagher is tailing us. Probably a CoveOps mission. Take one and pass it on._

_The Chameleon_

Then I slide it and the through the gap underneath the wall and into Macey's booth thing. I see her fingers take it from on the other side. Phew, she got it. I silently put on my own comms unit, hiding it in the soft scarf that I'm supposed to be trying on. Then I emerge from the booth.

A few moments later, Macey appears, grinning at me with excitement. It's been ages since we've had a proper opponent to tail us. Bex and Liz come out too, smiling, and altogether we come out of the shop.

We all split up, to make it more fun and exciting. Liz heads towards the Apple store (naturally), Macey heads towards Hollister (also naturally), and Bex takes one look at the sign saying _Karate classes here! _And runs in that direction. Sighing, I do what I do best. I blend into the crowd.

I see two people tailing me: Courtney Bauer and Kim Lee. They're making it kind of obvious that they are, because they're looking around themselves and making a lot of noise.

I allow myself a small smile. Then I have an idea.

I wait patiently until they decide to split up, before letting Courtney know I'm there, acting as though I haven't realised that _she _was there. She follows me as I lead her into the toilets. Then I attack her. Surprised, she dodges my first few kicks but after a while, I finally get a hit. Well, rather a light tap, only _just _hard enough to send her sprawling on the floor, because I'm not prepared to use the sisterhood's skills against my sister.

"Courtney, do you mind if I borrow your comms unit," I ask sweetly.

She grins. "Sure, Cammie."

She hands it over and I thank her, before hastily putting _this _comms unit on too. I'll call them comms 1 (for me, Bex, Liz and Macey) and comms 2 (for the CoveOps mission).

I sepak loudly into comms unit 2, "Mr Solomon, don't you think it's extremely rude to get everyone to tail us without telling us? You know sometimes I think that you should take some Culture and Assimilation lessons with Madame Dabney. She'd find you appalling."

I hear some gasps from the other students and chuckles from Mr Solomon and… Aunt Abby?

"Abby, are you there too?" I demand.

Abby says, "Course I am. What, did you _really _think I was going to buy some food for dinner? You know how I always order pizza on the phone. I told you that you're getting sloppy!"

"Yeah, _I'm _getting sloppy," I say back sarcastically. "_I'm _the one getting sloppy, even though _I'm _the one who's got your comms unit."

Mr Solomon chuckles again. "Who's did you take?"

"Courtney's," I answer.

"Where is Courtney now?" Mr Solomon demands, but with humour.

"Oh, probably shopping," I reply.

Some of the other students groan and whine, "Unfair."

"Mr Solomon, why exactly did you choose to tail us?" I ask. "And Abby, why didn't you tell us we were being tailed?"

"Well, we wanted to see how you were getting on," Mr Solomon admits. "And whether or not you were as sloppy as Abby said so."

"Hey!" I say loudly, fake offended, which earned me some strange looks from the people I was walking past.

"Oi, I wasn't the one who had the idea of tailing you," Abby defends herself. "It was Mr Solomon and Rachel's idea!"

"Oh yeah, tell Mom I said hi!" I smiled.

Mr Solomon chuckled, yet again. "Sure-"

"Hi everyone!" Bex's singsong voice cried out. "Anyone miss me?"

"We all did," everyone chorused back.

"Who's comms did _you _take, Bex?"

"Uh… Kim's…" Bex says nervously.

"Spill," me and Abby said at the same time.

"Well, Kim was looking for Cammie and my tailers had lost me-"

"Sorry," two other girls said.

Bex continued, "But then Kim saw me hiding in the Karate class, so she came along too. They put us in pairs to practice and then everyone came to watch us, because our fight was more intense than the teachers' demo, so I threw a punch and boom! Kim's unconscious. Sorry!"

"You beat Kim?" Jessica says, amazed. "Since you, Cammie, Liz and Macey left, Kim's been our best fighter! And you haven't trained in ages!"

"Well, the things is… we do train," Bex explains.

"Who with?" Mick Morrison asks.

"Um…" This time I was the one who spoke. "Aunt Abby. We used to do one hour of training, but now it's up to three. We wake up at five for two hours of P&E, and we do one hour after school, not including CoveOps for two and a half hours. Oh and she constantly tests us on languages and we do Culture and Assimilation for two hours. School homework only takes about half an hour."

"Wow," Jessica gasped. "Aunt Abby is a better teacher than you and Mrs Morgan, Mr Solomon. She fits all the Gallagher lessons in with their school hours too!"

"Yes, yes," Mr Solomon admits, before swiftly changing the subject. "So… where is Kim now?"

"She became conscious a few seconds ago," Bex replied. "Right now, she's running away from the people who want to call an ambulance. I think she's coming your way, Chameleon."

"On it," I say immediately.

I run through the throng of crowds and stop in front of Kim.

"Got her!" I called through my comms unit.

Kim struggles to get past me. I think she hit her head on the floor too hard. But luckily, Mr Solomon and everyone else comes before any harm can be done.

**Sorry, it's a kinda slow chapter! But I hope u liked it anyways!**


	15. Get Ready for Break Up Time

**Hey everybody! I'm so happy! We're on CHAPTER 16 EVERYONE! I'd like 2 thank EVERYONE and that's EVERYONE who reviewed, even if it was critical or whatever, cuz without u guys, I wouldn't have gone through with this fanfic. So thx SO MUCH!**

**I realised, just now, that I haven't written a disclaimer story in AGES, so here's one!**

**Disclaimer Story**

**Cammie: Peacock, I have eyeball on Zach – I mean, the Subject.**

**Macey: Roger that. Duchess, are you still in front of him?**

**Bex: No, I'm dropping back now. Cammie, you pull ahead.**

**Cammie: Ok… Oh, he's turning back now! Macey, clear out, he's coming your direction.**

**Zach: Who's coming whose direction?**

**Bex, Cammie and Mace: Ahhh!**

**Macey: How did you get into our comms circuit?**

**Zach: Well, Ally Carter told me that it would be funnier for the story if I took Liz's unit so I did, about 12 seconds ago. Actually, Ally also told me not to let you know that I'm listening so just ignore the fact that I'm here.**

**Cammie: Who's Ally Carter?**

**Zach: Gasp! You don't know who ALLY CARTER is?!**

**Cammie: Nope.**

**Zach: She owns us all. She owns Gallagher. She owns you. She owns me. She owns Bex. She owns Macey. She owns Liz. She owns Mr-**

**Cammie: Ok, I get it.**

**Bex: Does she control what we do as well?**

**Zach: Yep.**

**Bex: So does that mean I get to end up with Grant?**

**Zach: You wish, Rebecca Bexter. You wish…**

_Last Chappie_

_ "You beat Kim?" Jessica says, amazed. "Since you, Cammie, Liz and Macey left, Kim's been our best fighter! And you haven't trained in ages!"_

_"Well, the things is… we do train," Bex explains._

_"Who with?" Mick Morrison asks._

_"Um…" This time I was the one who spoke. "Aunt Abby. We used to do one hour of training, but now it's up to three. We wake up at five for two hours of P&E, and we do one hour after school, not including CoveOps for two and a half hours. Oh and she constantly tests us on languages and we do Culture and Assimilation for two hours. School homework only takes about half an hour."_

_"Wow," Jessica gasped. "Aunt Abby is a better teacher than you and Mrs Morgan, Mr Solomon. She fits all the Gallagher lessons in with their school hours too!"_

_"Yes, yes," Mr Solomon admits, before swiftly changing the subject. "So… where is Kim now?"_

_"She became conscious a few seconds ago," Bex replied. "Right now, she's running away from the people who want to call an ambulance. I think she's coming your way, Chameleon."_

_"On it," I say immediately._

_I run through the throng of crowds and stop in front of Kim._

_"Got her!" I called through my comms unit._

_Kim struggles to get past me. I think she hit her head on the floor too hard. But luckily, Mr Solomon and everyone else comes before any harm can be done._

**Dee Dee's POV (that's a change, right?)**

Cammie loves Josh. And Josh loves Cammie. They're perfect together.

I just wish it weren't that way.

I'm lying across my bed, my head in my hands, wondering why I have to have a crush on a boy who doesn't love me back. It's so frustrating. I know that it's pointless, dating Josh, because he spends all his time thinking about Cammie. If only Cammie knew how much he cares for her… Not that she doesn't care back. Cammie spends all _her _time thinking about Josh.

And yes, it might have looked like I totally didn't care about my boyfriend kissing my friend, but actually, it hit me much harder than everyone knows. I mean, they kissed on the day of my first date.

I'm not really angry at either of them. I know how much they like each other. And it's not their fault that they do. In fact, I blame myself. I should've seen how much Cammie _wasn't _over Josh. At that sleepover, when Cammie told me I should go for Josh, I shouldn't have listened. Because my happiness comes at the price of hers.

The thing is, I'm kind of jealous of Cammie. She's not totally perfect, but she's better than anyone else. She's not the prettiest, but she's totally unselfish. She's fun to be with. She breaks the rules for her friends. She's got a great personality. She's not a total bad ass, but she's not a goody-goody either. She's balanced in everything. She can cover up her emotions amazingly well, but at times, you can see the real depth of them. She's annoyingly what every boy seems to like. She doesn't turn the heads of every boy in the corridor, like Bex and Macey, but if you're a boy and you get to know her better, you can't stop liking her as more than a friend. I know. I've seen it in all the boys she knows on a first name basis or more.

Rolling over on my bed, to face the ceiling, I realise that if I date Josh, Cammie gets hurt. And I'm not getting anywhere, because Josh likes Camme anyway. So I should dump Josh or publically humiliate him or something. So that he and Cammie can get back together like they're supposed to. And although I'll feel sad, it's for the best. Two happy people and ne sad person is better than two sad people and one happy person (who's not even that happy, because she's dating a sad person). Right? They won't get back together yet, because Cammie's dating Grant. But when she finds out Grant and Bex have been cheating on her (yes, it slipped out of Macey's mouth when she was talking to Tina, who spread it around the rest of the school, so the only person who doesn't know is Cammie), she'll need some comfort and Josh will be there to give it.

That's when I start forming my plan.

**[Two days later]**

**Macey's POV**

"This is the third day," I tell Bex coldly. "Have you told her yet?"

We're in the sitting room, having a short break, while Cammie and Liz fight in the training room. I hate this training. It means there's literally fifteen minutes to choose what to wear. Fifteen minutes! It's outrageous.

She glares right back at me. "Not yet, but you told everybody in the school about me and Grant. That wasn't part of the deal."

I sigh. "For the last time, it was an accident. Tina knew something was up between us two, so she wormed her way until it slipped out."

"You're an ex-Gallagher girl," she says icily. "You're trained not to listen to people like Tina."

How the hell did we start acting so bitchy towards each other? What happened to BFFs?

Oh yeah. It was _her _fault, not mine. She was the one who broke up our friendship.

"I was only there for one year," I retort.

Then her expression suddenly looks sad. She says the thing that's been on my mind, "What happened to our friendship?"

"Your fault," I tell her. "You know, ever since Tina leaked it out to the rest of the school, everyone's going to start acting bitchy to you. They all know how much Cammie trusts you and you just took that for granted. Everyone expected that Grant was going to cheat on Cammie; it was Cammie's fault that she didn't believe everyone's warnings, but you? That's just low!"

"Yeah, and nobody would act that way if you hadn't told Tina about it."

"You can't blame me for that!" I say loudly, before lowering my voice because Cammie might here in the training room. "Don't say you won't deserve all the bitchiness you're going to get at school today."

She's silent.

"Hey, training's finally finished!" Cammie says brightly, emerging from the training room, looking a bit sweaty.

We get into the routine that we've made over the past few days. Me and Bex go into the two bathrooms in the apartment, while Cammie and Liz eat their breakfast. Then we quickly pick out some fashionable clothes for Cammie and Liz and they go into the bathrooms to sort themselves out, while me and Bex eat breakfast. Quick and easy.

Soon we're speeding off to school. Cammie looks determined for some reason, Liz looks relaxed (after all, the school work is dead easy for her), and Bex looks nervous. Well, she'd better be.

**Cammie's POV**

Today I am _determined _to let Bex have Grant. Now that I know how much she's been hurting since she found out I was going out with him, I just can't bear to kiss Grant one more time. It would make me feel so guilty. That's why I've decided to publically humiliate him or dump him in front of everybody, so that Bex can dive in to save the day. She could make him feel better, and then maybe, they'll get together.

When I pull into the parking lot, Grant's car is next to ours.

"Hey, babe," he grins lopsidedly.

"Grant!" I say, fake enthusiastically. Then I look into his eyes that are so full of happiness and love and suddenly I can't do it.

I can't break up with him.

I don't know how, but I've fallen for Grant, hard. I've also fallen for Josh too.

Stupid, complicated, annoying love.

We head into lessons, his arm around my waist.

**[Lunchtime]**

"Hey, Cammie!" I hear Dee Dee's voice from the other side of the canteen. "Come sit over here!"

I oblige. Plonking my tray down on the table, I suddenly hear her voice in my ear.

"Cammie, I'm going to break up with Josh and I want you to be here to comfort him," she whispers.

I blink. "Say what?"

She repeats what she said before. I ask her, wide eyed, "Why would you do that?"

"Because… um… He's a possessive freak," she lies. I can tell she's lying, even without my bracelet, but I decide not to press it.

Instead I whisper, "Why do you want me to comfort him?"

Her answer is, "Because you guys are meant for each other and you have got to realise that."

"But…" I start to protest, when I realise that all the girls are listening. Discreetly, but I can still see their heads slightly tilted towards us. So I drag Dee Dee behind the canteen, a smelly alleyway that nobody goes through.

"Look, Dee Dee, I appreciate you trying to get me and Josh back together but it's not worth it," I sigh.

"It _is_!" she insists and then says earnestly, "Besides, I really do think he's a possessive freak."

Still a lie. But pretending that I'm dumb enough to believe her, I say, "Fine. But only after I break up with Grant."

"Ok then… Wait a second! You're going to break up with Grant?!" she exclaims happily.

"Why are you so excited about it?" I ask curiously.

She fumbles with her shirt. "Sorry, I forgot you still might be upset about the whole thing…"

"Yeah, I am," I agree. "I mean, if only I knew that Bex liked Grant… I mean, she's been watching me kiss him all the time. She must have felt terrible, because she's never kissed him herself."

A look of confusion crosses Dee Dee's face. "Wait… what? You don't know about…"

Then she trails off.

"About what?" I prompt.

"It's not my place to tell you," she mumbles.

This thing really is bugging me.

"please tell!" I beg.

She just shakes her head. "I can't. But sometime today you will be told."

At least I don't have to wait _too _long.

We walk back towards our friends, both excited for the two break ups that the whole school are going to be gossiping about for ages.

**I'm SO SORRY and MEAN! I'm like the biggest bully out there for leaving you all with this cliffy! But you'll have to wait for next time– Sorry!**

**Please R&R!**


	16. The Break Up with Grant

**So… here's the dramatic break up scene with Grant! Hope u like it!**

**I'd like 2 thank all my brilliant reviewers for reviewing!**

_Last _

_"You're going to break up with Grant?!" she exclaims happily._

_"Why are you so excited about it?" I ask curiously._

_She fumbles with her shirt. "Sorry, I forgot you still might be upset about the whole thing…"_

_"Yeah, I am," I agree. "I mean, if only I knew that Bex liked Grant… I mean, she's been watching me kiss him all the time. She must have felt terrible, because she's never kissed him herself."_

_A look of confusion crosses Dee Dee's face. "Wait… what? You don't know about…"_

_Then she trails off._

_"About what?" I prompt._

_"It's not my place to tell you," she mumbles._

_This thing really is bugging me._

_"please tell!" I beg._

_She just shakes her head. "I can't. But sometime today you will be told."_

_At least I don't have to wait too long._

_We walk back towards our friends, both excited for the two break ups that the whole school are going to be gossiping about for ages._

**Cammie's POV**

"Bex! Bex!" I hiss by her ear.

"What?" she says loudly.

I shush her, before dragging her behind the canteen, just like I had done to Dee Dee. I notice that she's not wearing a truth bracelet. Phew.

"What is it, Cammie?" she says nervously.

"I'm going to break up with Grant today and I want you to comfort him," I tell her, smiling at the fact that I'm using the exact words that Dee Dee did.

"Cammie, why the fuck would you break up with Grant?!" she demands.

I lie as convincingly as I can, "He's a player. I don't want to be cheated on. So I'm breaking up with him before he dumps me."

"But… before you kept insisting he wouldn't cheat on you…" she says even more nervously than before. "What… what made you change your mind?"

"When I looked up and down the corridors and I saw all the girls glaring at me, I realised just how many hearts he's broken," I lie again. "I didn't want to be one of them."

She's silent for a moment, before I see her expression merge into a determined, bold one. The one she used to wear all the time when we at Gallagher. The one I missed.

"Cammie, I have to tell you something," she says. "It's-"

"Cammie?" Dee Dee's voice comes from around the corner. "The boys are leaving the canteen, right now. Hurry, or you'll miss them!"

"Shit!" I exclaim, before sprinting back towards the canteen.

_Time for a little drama_, I think to myself, with a slight smirk. Quickly pulling my hair out of its ponytail and messing it up a bit, I throw the double doors open with a furious expression. Behind me, I hear Dee Dee muttering, "Drama queen." All eyes are on me. I hear whispers throughout the canteen and there's a complete silence.

"GRANT NEWMAN!" I yell in his direction, storming up to him.

"Cammie?" he says, a little bit scared. What's he scared about?

"I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY TO YOU, NEWMAN!" I shriek dramatically. "WE ARE OVER! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD CHEATED ON ME! I TRUSTED YOU, EVEN THOUGH EVERYONE ELSE KEPT TELLING ME THAT YOU WERE GOING TO CHEAT! AND HOW DID YOU THANK ME?! BY CHEATING ON ME! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD STOOP SO LOW!"

I kick him hard in the place where the sun don't shine and he doubles over in pain, which earns some sniggers from other boys.

"DID YOU LIKE THAT, NEWMAN?" I continue angrily and he shakes his head. "WELL, THAT'S JUST A TASTER OF WHAT YOU WILL FEEL LIKE WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU! DO YOU HAVE ANY LAST WORDS?"

"Look, Cammie, I didn't mean to do it," he gasps. "I never meant to hurt you."

I step back from him and my eyebrows knit themselves together in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"I never meant to cheat on you. I just couldn't help myself," he says meekly.

"You actually… cheated on me?" I ask in disbelief, after realising his meaning.

It's his turn to be confused. "Yes… That was what you were accusing me of… Right?"

"Yeah," I say, close to tears. "But I didn't think you actually cheated on me."

He asks. "Didn't the rumours get to you?"

"What rumours?!" I ask frantically. "The whole school knew you cheated on me?!"

He nods shamefully. "Macey leaked it to Tina, who leaked it to the rest of the school."

"You all knew and you chose not to tell me?!" I demand, glaring at the rest of the school. Lots of people suddenly find their food very interesting. Then I turn to Macey. "And Macey, how did you know about it?"

"I… caught them in the closet," she tells me, avoiding my eyes.

"And you didn't tell me? What kind of friend are you?"

She looks close to tears. "I wanted to give her a chance to explain herself. I gave her three days. By the end of today, I was supposed to tell you."

Grant asks me, "Cammie, why would you accuse me of cheating on you when you didn't even know anything about it?"

"I…" I trail off. Then my face hardens when I remember that he's cheated on me. I demand angrily, "WHO DID YOU CHEAT ON ME WITH?!"

Everyone in the hall sucks in a harsh breath.

In a small strangled voice, he says, "Bex."

"BEX?!" I scream. Then I punch Grant in the stomach, which earns gasps from everyone, and then run towards the nearest toilets, shoving Bex out of the way as I go. I beg myself not to cry.

**Bex's POV**

I feel terrible. I should have told her.

**Grant's POV**

I feel terrible. I should have told her.

**Zach's POV**

I feel terrible. I should have told her.

**Liz's POV**

I feel terrible . I should have told her

**Dee Dee's POV**

I feel terrible . I should have told her

**[A/N Sorry, you must be SO annoyed that I've repeated the same 2 sentences about 5 times. So the next time will be the last.]**

**Macey's POV**

I feel terrible. I should have told her.

She runs out of the hall, on the verge of crying. **[A/N See?] **She shoves Bex out of her way, who slams into the wall. I run after her, casting dirty looks at Bex. When I come close to the bathroom, I can hear some sobbing coming from inside. I slowly push the door open. Cammie's curled up in a ball, leaning against the wall, sobbing into her knees. I slowly approach her.

"Go away, Bex, I don't want an apology!" she wails.

"It's not Bex, it's Macey," I say softly.

There's no answer from the girl on the floor.

I sit down next to her, ignoring the fact that I'm soaking my designer clothes in a puddle of her tears.

"Are you ok?" I ask gently.

She moans, "I can't believe he cheated on me. He promised that he would never. He told me I was different, that I had made him a better person."

"It's happened to me before," I try to soothe.

"I should have listened to you and Zach and Josh," she continued. "You warned me and I just ignored it! It was stupid."

"No it wasn't. I would have fallen for it too."

"No you wouldn't," she replies, tears dripping sullenly down her face. "You would be sensible."

"Don't be stupid," I tell her. "I'm just as gullible as you are. When Liz told us that there was 'gullible' written on the ceiling and we were outside, we both looked up, remember?"

She cracks a smile. "I remember. And then there was the time when Bex-" She stops suddenly, remembering about Bex and Grant. She starts crying again. I try to get her attention again, but she refuses to acknowledge me.

"Oi! Cammie, look at me!" I shout at her. She finally looks up and I continue in a kinder tone, "Look, you need to get over this. Grant's not worth it. Bex isn't worth it either. Hey, why don't we show them how unaffected you are. Let's start off with a makeover. You were going for showy, sexy and irresistable before. Let's start over again, with sweet, funny and cute."

"Isn't that what Liz and Dee Dee are going for?"

"Oh yeah," I say sadly, before brightening up. "How about we go for mysterious, sexy and dangerous, but natural make up and also out of everyone's reach? That way, even more boys will be looking your way, to make Grant really upset that he doesn't have you, but you won't have to deal with any boyfriend troubles."

"Isn't that what you and Bex are?" she asks, although she's grinning evilly. I knew she'd like my ideas.

"Not anymore," I reply with a mischievous smile. "She's probably going to start going out with Grant and I'm with Dillon now. Plus, I can have a secret wardrobe built in your bedroom and we can get Liz to create some unbreakable lock put onto it so she can't take your super awesome clothes that I'm going to get you. And don't worry, I'm not going to make it what you'd call, and I quote, 'Slutty Macey Approved Clothing'. Does that work for you?"

She grins even wider. "Definitely."

"Great, let's start," I smile, getting out my car keys.

**[1 ½ hours later]**

**Cammie's POV**

"You can look now," Macey says proudly and I turn around to face the mirror.

I gasp.

"You don't like it?" Mace says doubtfully.

"I love it," I smile.

She smiles back.

I really do love it. Somehow, Macey's stylists have found the perfect combination of beautiful and hazardous. I'm wearing a black leather miniskirt with pink fabric streaks on it. Luckily, Macey's stylists understood that miniskirts are not meant to be so short that they don't even fully cover your butt. My hair is half up, half down, and the part that is up is messy in a pretty way, whereas they part that is down is in pretty curls. They've also styled my hair so that part of it now covers my forehead, as a kind of fringe, so you can't really see my eyes, again with the mysterious look. My nails are black with pink gems and on one of my hands is a leather glove that doesn't cover my fingers, just my knuckles, which give off the impression that I'm ready to punch someone. I've got a small touch of mascara (Macey was all for giving me a lot, but I protested) – not too much so it looks like I'm trying to look good, but just enough to improve me AND look natural. A touch of dark pink lipstick to redden my lips a bit, but again, still look natural. Nothing on my cheeks so I look a tiny bit pale, sure, but absolutely dangerous. My combat boots are part of the natural thing _and _the dangerous thing. My top, with one strap, hugs my chest (Macey's idea) but it has these dark pink streaks down it, which are lined with shining tiny gems, all rose red. It stops right over the belt. The belt laces through my skirt, with fake chain things hanging off it (my idea).

Macey looks quite similar to me, except sluttier and less natural. Her colour scheme isn't black and pink like mine. It's black and turquoise, which is unusual because she always has pink and I always have more boyish colours. But together, we pretty much look like twins.

You know, I never thought I'd say this, but designing clothes with Macey and her stylists is actually quite fun.

When I see Macey looking longingly at some stores as we pass them on our way back to school, I tell her, "We'll come back here after school."

"But Abby's training?" she looks at me.

"I'm sure that can wait one day," I reply, shrugging. "A lot has happened today."

She smiles. "Yep. We've got _so _much shopping to do. I have to buy you a whole wardrobe!"

"Yeah, yeah," I sigh. "So… am I ready to go back to school?"

"Nope," she says, popping the 'p'. "We still have to sort out a lot of things, like the way you act, the way you walk and so on."

I stifle a groan.

"Very good," she approves. "First thing, the old Cammie would groan, but the new Cammie is ready to take on anything."

"So I'll always say dare in Truth or Dare?" I say disbelievingly.

"Yup," she answers. "You're not afraid of anything. You walk like this…" she demonstrated. I tried to copy, but failed.

**[½ hour later]**

Mace and I have started compromising some stuff, because I'm not willing to let all of the old me go. I've decided to do the thing about taking on anything that's thrown at me and the thing about me punching any guy I don't like, but we've ditched the walking thing, when you have to stare straight ahead and walk on a straight line as though you're on a tightrope or something. We've also ditched the thing about talking like a slut and always chewing gum. Both do _not _look good on me.

**Hi, it's me again.**

**Well the thing about Cammie changing a new look was totally random and I don't know if it's good or not.**

**So can anybody please review to tell me whether you want Cammie to ditch the idea or keep it.**

**If more people want to keep the idea, then I'll keep it.**

**And vice versa obviously.**

**So I'm leaving it up to you guys.**

**Plz R&R!**


	17. Author's Note

**Hey everyone! Sorry, but this is an URGENT notice. PLEASE READ!**

**Don't worry I haven't ditched this fanfic.**

**It's just that I don't know whether I should keep Cammie's new look or not.**

**So what do you think?**

**I can't continue this story unless someone tells me what to do.**

**So PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Because 2 poeple have told me to continue her new look and 2 have told me not to.**

**So I need more reviews.**

**Thank you.**

**Yours forever,**

**xx**


	18. Getting over the Break Up

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I was AMAZED when I opened up my email and found like twenty seven reviews just about Cammie's look. So thank you!**

**According to people who reviewed, Cammie's going to KEEP THE NEW LOOK! The thing is though, it was quite close, so I decided to use **xXxGGirlxXx**'s idea. That is: Cammie's going to keep the look, but when she's around her friends, she's going to ditch it. And I'm also going to use a **Guest **and **Gg (guest)**'s ideas, which are: keep the look for a while and then ditch/tone it down it later. And also, I'm going to tone it down a bit so she also looks quite unaffected.**

**Oh my God. I just searched up Gallagher Girls fanfics that are Macey and Dillon. Turns out there are none. NONE! I'm shocked. Do you know how cool that is?! That this is the ONLY fanfic that has MaceyxDillon?! It's SO EXCITING!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT BLOODY OWN ANYBODY IN GALLAGHER GIRLS! Sorry, no story cuz nothing popped into my head like it usually does. Any disclaimer story ideas? I'll give you credit if you give me one.**

**I'm dedicating this chapter to a certain **Guest **who reviewed 11 times, one review for over half of the chapters so THANK YOU!You made me smile.**

_Last chapter_

_Mace and I have started compromising some stuff, because I'm not willing to let all of the old me go. I've decided to do the thing about taking on anything that's thrown at me and the thing about me punching any guy I don't like, but we've ditched the walking thing, when you have to stare straight ahead and walk on a straight line as though you're on a tightrope or something. We've also ditched the thing about talking like a slut and always chewing gum. Both do not look good on me._

**Cammie's POV**

"Macey, are you sure I don't look too much like I'm trying?" I ask nervously, as Macey pulls up in the parking lot.

"I'm positive," she replies, hugging me for good luck. "Now, go shine, girl!"

I grin at her, before stepping out of the car. Together, we walk into the classroom. Everybody turns to look at us. I see some people with their jaws wide open at me, probably because I look so weird. I suddenly get a panic attack. What if I can't pull this new look off? What if I look like a total idiot? But then Macey nudges me and I notice a couple of jocks drooling at the back of the classroom. Never expected that to happen.

"Where have you two been?" our French teacher, Madame Dufort, demands.

"Where do you think we've been?" I shoot back.

"Shopping?" she narrows her eyes.

"Well, duh," me and Macey say at the same time.

She scowls. "You do know that this is going to go into your reports, right?"

"Oh no!" I say sarcastically.

"Just hurry up and sit down!"

We do so, grudgingly. The work is dead easy. After about five minutes, me, Bex, Liz and Macey have done the six worksheets she's given us, while everyone else is still stumbling through the first one. Then I feel the strange prickly feeling on the back of my neck that tells me whether someone's watching me or not. I look around to find myself staring into Grant's eyes. I try to look disgusted as I turn back towards my desk. I quickly scribble down a note:

_Grant, if you dare look at me again, I WILL injure you. And just because I'm feeling nice, I won't make it permanent._

_But that doesn't mean it won't hurt…_

_Not yours truly,_

_Cameron Morgan._

_No xxx._

Then I fold it into a paper aeroplane and throw it neatly onto his desk. Out of the corner of my eye I see that he reads it and starts grinning – until he sees the 'not yours truly' part.

Then he looks sad.

_HA! _I want to shout at him. Because I don't feel betrayed and upset anymore. I feel ready to kill. You know, this new look thing is really working for me.

I still feel eyes on me. I spin around to find Grant checking me out. I hate that boy _so much. _I mean, first he cheats on me with my best friend and now he wants me back?! Boys and their mood swings… Wow, it's funny to think that earlier today I loved him and I was only going to break up with him so that he and my best friend got together.

Frustrated, I suddenly stand up and storm over to him, earning surprised stares from everyone else. Slamming my hand down on his desk I say angrily, "Newman, I've warned you already. And I swear this is your last warning, because if you dare check me out again, I _will _hurt you."

Then I get back into my chair. He's still staring at me.

"Alright, that's it," I say loudly, glaring at him. I put my elbow on his desk, pointing a finger right in front of his nose, and say threateningly, "Meet me at my locker at 4 o'clock. I'll show not to mess with me, Newman." Then I change my tone into a sweet one, "Oh and if you don't come, I'll beat the crap out of you tomorrow. Look, class is over! See you later, Madame Dufort!"

Sweeping all my history books into my arms, I glide out the classroom.

"We'd better go after her, Liz," I hear Macey saying. "Let's go – Nope, you're not coming with us, Bex."

Walking to our next lesson (Mom arranged Liz, Bex and Macey to be in all of my classes), we chatted about cheerleading squad. Macey is thinking of signing us up for trials because the new me does everything, and because there are two free spaces and they also need a new captain. I sigh inwardly. I'm ok at cheerleading, but I'm definitely not the best and I'll just make a fool of myself.

Then I notice Liz is silent. It's just Macey talking and me nodding and sighing, while Liz walks quietly by our side.

"Liz, what's wrong?" I ask her, interrupting Macey's speech about how this is a 'great opportunity' or whatever.

"Huh?" she blinks, snapping back into reality from her daydream. "Oh… nothing's wrong…"

Macey and I just look at her disbelievingly with our eyebrows raised.

"Seriously, I'm fine," she insists.

"Really?" I continued. "Are you _sure _that you're ok?"

"Fine, I'll tell you," she sighs. "It's just that Jonas is such a sweet guy but I think he's got his eye on–"

"Bex, I know," Macey says quietly.

"How do you know that?" I ask Macey in amazement. "Do you like Jonas or something?"

"No way!" she says. "No offence Liz. I know because you're all making it so obvious. I mean, I just looked around at our friendship circle (including the boys) and I knew. Like I knew that Liz likes Jonas" – here Liz blushes – "but Jonas likes Bex. Bex likes Grant. Grant likes you but there's a small part of him that likes Bex. Dillon likes me, I like him, that one is easy. Dee Dee likes Josh, but Josh likes you and you don't know who you like the most: Josh, Grant or Zach."

"What?!" I shout, before lowering my voice. "I like Zach as a friend, but nothing more. Anyway, he likes another girl."

"Really?" Macey says, amused for some reason. "Who?"

"Um… he wouldn't tell me her name," I mumble.

Macey smirks because we all know she's winning this battle. "Cammie, I'm sure that girl he was talking about is you."

I shake my head. "He said she's perfect. I'm not. Anyway, he had a bet with his friend to see whether his best friend could hook up with her. That didn't happen to me."

I can tell Macey isn't convinced but she doesn't say anything.

"Back to Liz's problem," I remind Macey. "Why don't you just ask Jonas out?"

"Because… iit's scary," she gulps and we both tell her that her excuse isn't good enough. She tries another one. "Uh… he likes Bex… and I don't want to date anyone who's got their eyes on someone else." She says the last bit victoriously, as though proud that she thought of a good excuse.

Macey nods thoughtfully. "That's true. But Dee Dee knew Josh likes Cammie but she dated him anyway."

"And look how that turned out," Liz says, even more triumphantly.

"True," I point out. "Very true."

"Not helping, Cammie," Macey points out too, imitating my tone. "Not helping." We all laugh.

"Fine, how about we do a makeover on you, so Jonas will like you more than he likes Bex," I suggest.

Macey looks at me approvingly, "See? You're merging into your new you already! The old Cammie would never say that." I smile back, a little sadly, because I don't want to let all of the old me go. I guess she senses that because she says, "Don't worry; you don't have to act hard-core all the time. But Liz having a makeover was seriously the best idea you ever had!"

"Uh... thanks?" I say, a bit confused.

**Grant's POV**

"I'm just so, _so _sorry," Bex literally begs me to forgive her.

As if.

She lost me the most beautiful girl in the world. I miss Cammie so much it actually hurt. And I can't get her disgusted face out of my head when she looked at me. Usually, it's me who's the one who looks disgusted at the heart I broke. But with Cammie, everything was different. When she looks at me, it's as though she was the one who cheated on me. It looks like she's totally unaffected by me. Totally. I guess I finally know how all those other girls I dated feel now.

Silently, I vow to stop being a player.

But I guess it was my fault more than Bex's. I was the one who allowed her to kiss me. I was the one who didn't push her away. And I wasn't the one who had the crush. I guess if _I _had a crush on someone since the first day I saw them, I wouldn't be able to stop myself.

And plus, she only kissed me the first time. I kissed her the second time.

"Bex, just leave me alone," I snap at her.

I don't mean to be so harsh. I just couldn't help it.

Bex is silent for a while. I pity her, a bit. She has no one to go to. Cammie, Liz and Macey all hate her. Dee Dee hates her because Josh and Cammie hate her. Dillon didn't like her anyway. Zach – well, you never know what he's thinking, but I'm pretty sure that inside, he doesn't really like her much either, especially since they've hated each other ever since Bex saw his face. I think Jonas liked her before, but now that Bex is known as the girl who betrayed her best friend, I'm pretty sure he's distancing himself from her.

"Grant…" she says softly. "I'm sorry, but I understand if you don't want to accept my apology."

Then she turns and I watch as she slowly, silently, pads away, her head hung in shame.

**Bex's POV**

Nobody likes me. Everywhere I turn, people are staring at me, keeping their distance from the girl who betrayed her best friend. I wish I was a chameleon like Cammie, able to slink through the corridors without being noticed. But I'm not. So instead I have to suffer the whispers which are no doubt about me.

The guy I love hates me. The girls I've been best friends with since 7th grade (and in Macey's case, sophomore year) hate me.

I've got no one.

I don't pity myself. I deserve it after all. I just regret it, with all my heart.

Tears streaming down my face – which literally NEVER happens to a Baxter – I rush into a deserted corridor and pull out my phone. I dial home, hoping that Mum and Dad are not on an MI6 mission.

"Hello?" someone's voice crackles through the line.

Mum. **[A/N Yeah, in Britain we call Mom Mum. Well I do anyway.]**

"Hi, Mum," I say, as brightly as I can.

"Oh, honey, what's wrong?" she asks straight away.

"How did you know I have a problem?" I ask her out of curiosity.

She laughs, "You wouldn't try to be bright and sunny if you were normal. Besides, I'm a spy! Give me some credit!" Then she continues in a more serious tone, "Bex, has something happened? Boy troubles that you want advice about? Just so you know, Rachel told me that she expelled you. She wanted you back, but I said that you should stay at Roseville High. You can a lot about people in general in the normal world and plus, when you go out there one day, you won't be spying in Gallagher. You'll be out in the wide world. So you should get to know that better. She told me that Abby was teaching you anyway and she's one of the best agents out there. It's not like you'd be missing out."

I take a deep breath. "Mum, can I go back to London?"

"Oh dear, it's serious, isn't it?" she says gravely. "Tell me everything."

"When we first came to Roseville High, I instantly fell in love with this guy called Grant Newman," I tell her. "But it turns out he was dating Cammie. Then Grant and I cheated on Cammie. I really didn't want to hurt Cammie but at the time I convinced myself that it was ok, because Cammie didn't even start dating Grant because she liked him – she said that at the time, she just wanted a distraction from Josh because she and Josh had an argument. Afterwards I felt dead guilty but I couldn't bring myself to tell Cammie. Then Grant and I did it again. Except that time, Macey and Dillon caught us. Macey gave me three days to explain it to Cammie and then she would explain herself. But she told Tina, who told the rest of the school. Yesterday we went on a CoveOps mission against Gallagher. Cammie found out that I like Grant. Then today, Cammie told me that she was breaking up with Grant because she wanted to give me a chance to be with Grant. So she went up to Grant at lunch and accused him of cheating on her so that they would break up and I would have a chance to step in and become his girlfriend. Grant told her he was sorry and never meant to hurt her. Of course, Cammie was really confused because she didn't realise he really _did _cheat on her but she soon found out the whole story. And now, everybody hates me (especially Macey), and I totally deserve it, which is why I decided to come back to London, so that Cammie will forget me and move on."

"Bex," Mum says softly. "What you did was wrong, but you should fix it, rather than run away. What happened to the daring fearless Bex I knew? You should go to Cammie and sort everything out."

"Yes, Mum," I say, as enthusiastic as I can, although I hear my voice cracking with disappointment. "Thanks for the advice."

Then I hang up.

Sorting things out with Cammie would never work. She absolutely hates me. Why would she listen to what I have to say?

What should I do, now that I can't go home and I can't fix things with Cammie? What should I do?


	19. Let's Sort Out the Liz Problem

**Get ready for a long chapter everyone!**

**[After school]**

**Cammie's POV**

Grant is standing nervously outside my locker, just like I expected him to be.

"Well, look who showed up!" I say fake sweetly.

He genuinely sorry when he says, "Look, Cammie, I never meant to hurt you…"

"Hurt me?" I say narrowing my eyes. "Did you just say you hurt me?"

"No!" he yelps, scared out of his wits. "I didn't hurt you! You're totally unaffected by me! You don't care about me at all!"

By this time, there's quite a crowd surrounding us.

"Are you sure?" I ask suspiciously.

"Positive," he squeaks.

Some sniggers from the crowd surrounding us.

I glance at Macey and mouth _sorry _in advance for what I'm about to do and say. I punch him in the gut, sending him sprawling to the ground, before slamming my foot onto his left hand (I don't want to give him the luck of getting out of writing in lessons so I chose his left hand. I kneel down and bend in especially close to his ear.

"Wrong answer. I was very, very affected," I breathe, extra glad that my breath is still minty from the makeover Macey's stylists gave me. I say it really quietly so that only he and I and Liz and Macey (because they're spies) can hear it. I smile when I see Grant shiver at my closeness on the floor. Then I kick him like a ragdoll with disgust written all over my face, while Grant rolls over onto his face.

"Let's go, Mace, Liz," I say, standing up and brushing myself down.

The crowd parts to let us through, as though slightly scared by me. We walk to the car.

"How's Bex going to get home?" I ask, slightly worried.

"Leave her," Macey says, rolling her eyes. "She's not worth it."

"But-" Me and Liz start at the same time.

"I said leave her, Liz!"

Liz and I both shut up, surprised at Macey's harshness. Macey is right though. If Macey hadn't come to Gallagher, me and Liz would have forgiven Bex already. We would have forgiven her and the only person who would be hurting would be me. And I didn't do anything wrong. Macey gives us strength and reminds us about how to handle Bex.

But then again, ever since she saw Bex and Grant in the storage cupboard, she's been acting even harsher than usual. _This _Macey was different – way to inhuman and cruel, almost like… like Catherine.

"Cammie, Macey, I don't want to have a totally different style," Liz says quietly.

I smile reassuringly at her. "I didn't either, but I came out just fine."

"I don't like it," she mumbles.

"It's fine," Macey says, not taking her gaze off the road. "Once upon a time, there surprisingly was a little girl called Macey who loved her daddy and her mommy." Me and Liz gape at her. "But then she changed and she became a rebellious teen. And that was a good thing, because otherwise she wouldn't have seen what bastards the Senator and his wife actually are."

"Macey!" Liz gasps, shocked. "No parents could be _that _bad! I'm sure it's just an exaggeration!"

"Nope," Macey replies, trying to look as though she doesn't care, but judging by the tears pricking at my friend's eyes, she does.

When Macey's stylists are finished with Liz the first time, I just have my mouth open. Her eyes are rimmed with mascara so that she looks like a zombie and her nails are black with skulls on them. Her lipstick is purple and her cheeks are deathly pale. Her skirt is so short that it would only work on Macey. In fact, her whole look is like a Halloween costume. Totally goth.

"Is it bad?" Liz asks nervously. Macey's stylists hand her a hand mirror. Liz takes one glance and screams.

"Oh, come on," Macey sighs. "It's not that bad."

"How am I supposed to impress Jonas by wearing this?" Liz pouts.

"Good point," Macey nods, looking at the wall as if thinking up her next design on Liz.

Half an hour later, Liz is wearing a cute puffy dress. It's cute. There's nothing else to say about it.

"No," Macey says as soon as she sees Liz's overall outfit.

"But-" Liz protests, but she's already being undressed.

Another half an hour later, we've finally had a hit.

Liz has a matching outfit with Macey and I, except it's white and pink instead of black. Well, it's matching my old outfit. Macey changes my outfit so that it doesn't look so hard-core, more 'soft if you can get close to her' type thing that Macey thinks will make boys come running or whatever. Even if I've told everyone I'm not looking for a relationship. That means girlier lip-gloss and less chain belts. My colours aren't black and pink anymore. They're black and green. _The colour of Zach's eyes,_ I realize. _Why did I think of that? _Macey is still the same as ever.

When we walk into my apartment, we're all laughing. Then we see Bex and stop abruptly.

Macey totally ignores her as she walks past, while Liz waves slightly, before remembering what Bex did. I take a deep breath and nod curtly to acknowledge her. She catches my hand as I walk past. Damn her good reflexes!

"Cammie, I'm sorry-"

"It's… it's… I'm fine," I interrupt, choking back a sob. Then I clear my throat. "Have you asked him yet? To go out with you, I mean."

Blood drains out of her face. "No, Cammie, I'd never betray you -"

"You've already done that," I interrupt again. "And you're doing it again by not asking him out. I told you to do it and you haven't. It will be like… me breaking up with him was for nothing."

"No, I couldn't-"

I decide to interrupt her – again. "Do it. Or it would be worse than you cheating on me."

She nods sullenly.

"What's going on here?" Abby pops out from behind us. We all jump in surprise.

"Nothing…" we all chorus, Bex included.

"Spill," she demands.

The others are about to explain when I suddenly shout, "NO!"

Everyone stares at me.

"I WILL NOT TELL YOU ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE!" I scream at Abby. I don't know why I do that, but suddenly I feel like I have to. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO KNOW ABOUT IT OR GO SNOOPING AROUND! JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE A GOOD SPY, DOES _NOT _MEAN YOU CAN GO BARGE INTO MY LIFE WHENEVER YOU LIKE! YOU DIDN'T EVEN POP INTO MY LIFE UNTIL I CAME TO ROSEVILLE! WHAT HAPPENED? YOU JUST UP AND LEFT WHEN DAD DIED! WHEN WE NEEDED YOU MOST TOO! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! I NEVER QUESTIONED WHY YOU WERE SUDDENLY IN MOM'S OFFICE FOR THE FIRST TIME! BUT REALLY, YOU DIDN'T DESERVE IT! I'VE BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH TODAY ALREADY AND YOU'RE NOT HELPING! IT SEEMS LIKE IT WAS BETTER WHEN YOU WEREN'T IN MY LIFE, BECAUSE YOU JUST MAKE EVERYTHING WORSE!"

Then sobbing, I run into my bedroom and slam the door behind me. I crash onto my bed and start crying into my pillow. I can hear of the others whispering outside the door, wondering whether they should come in or not.

"Cammie?" Macey asks quietly as she treads in carefully, Liz behind her. "Are you ok?"

I ignore her but I continue crying.

Liz suddenly bursts into tears. Me and Macey look at her quizzically.

"I can't bear my best friend's sadness," she says between sobs.

Macey has tears rolling down her face too.

**[A/N Sorry if you find it weird that Macey and Liz are crying too, it's just I read this chainmail thing on BBM which gave me the idea. Here it is: ****_FAKE FRIENDS – Never ask for food. :l REAL FRIENDS – Are the reasons you have no food. =D _****_FAKE FRIENDS – Never seen you cry X_X REAL FRIENDS – cry with you._****_ FAKE FRIENDS – know a few things about you:] REAL FRIENDS – could write a book about you :D FAKE FRIENDS – would knock on your front door :D REAL FRIENDS – walk right in and say "I'M HOME" =D FAKE FRIENDS – will help you when you fall over. :) REAL FRIENDS – will laugh at you. =)) FAKE FRIENDS – are for a while *…* REAL FRIENDS – are for life 3 FAKE FRIENDS – will read this =-? REAL FRIENDS – will pass this on. _****Sorry, thought I'd just include this cuz it's cute.]**

The door creaks open again.

"Go away, Bex," Macey snaps.

"No, let her in," I say suddenly, surprising everyone. She carefully treads over to the bed. I tell her, "Before you say anything, I don't want your apology. I don't want to hear how you're sorry, because it just makes it worse for me. What I want you to do is to get back with Grant. No excuses. You _will _become Grant's girlfriend and even though you won't be our friend, you _will _be able to speak with us on good terms. I'm not going to forget what happened, I refuse to become a bitch and I will not ignore you and make your life hell. I'm forgiving you for what you did (you liked him and it was partly my fault for not noticing) but that doesn't mean I'm forgetting."

Bex nods. "Look, I know you don't want to hear me say sorry, but I'm just going to say that I won't forget it either. I won't take advantage of the fact you're forgiving me, because what I did was inexcusable and I will never cheat on whoever you date – or whoever any of you date – again. I won't forget it until all of you do, if that ever happens. And if you don't want me near you, I'll clear out straight away. I won't extra nice, because I know that won't make you feel better. It will just remind you of it. And I just wanted to say, I will always be here if you need. I won't ever betray you again – hard to believe, I know, but I won't and I promise that on Gillian Gallagher's sword."

That makes me grin. Liz looks as though she's forgotten the past and even Macey is smiling at the mention of the sword of the woman who opened the school that we all became friends in.

Bex turns to leave again and I say loudly, "Wait, Bex!" She turns around and I continue, "I've got one more condition. If you get Liz and Jonas together, it might just make me forget a bit easier. Plus, I know you love a challenge any day."

She grins and closes the door behind her, while Liz has gone completely red.

**[Next day]**

**Bex's POV**

I_ have _to complete the task Cammie set me. I _have _to earn her trust back. I _will _get Liz and Jonas together, although I don't know why there's such a big problem. I mean, it's not like Jonas has a crush on anyone, right? That's why I take a bus to school the next day, getting in extra early, because I know Jonas comes into school extra early to study or something. Geek.

"Hey Jonas!" I say brightly, as I can, dropping my bag on the floor as I slide into the chair opposite him in the library.

"B-bex," he stutters. "I d-didn't kn-kn-know you study…"

"Well, I do now!" I smile widely. "So, whatcha revising about?"

"Fr-French," he stammers. "I-I'm not so g-good at it and w-we've got a mock test n-next week."

"Hey, is that why you're stuttering?" I ask him.

He blushes, "I-I'm not st-stuttering!"

I roll my eyes as I say, "Ya could've fooled me!"

"N-no, I'm d-d-definitely not stuttering," he says. "It's j-just… Bexdoyouwanttogooutwithme?"

"Say what?"

He clears his throat and says nervously, "Bex, do you want to go out with me?"

"Say what?" I say. He's about to repeat it again when I interrupt, "I heard you, it's just… why do you want to go out with me? I'm the person everyone steers clear from in the corridors. I'm no one's friend."

He looks at his feet while he mumbles, "I've had a crush on you for ages…"

Ah. That's why there was a big problem to get Liz and Jonas together.

"Look, Jonas, I never meant to hurt you but…" I say softly, "I didn't kiss my best friend's boyfriend for no reason. I'm not a slut. No, I did it because I've had a crush on him for ages. And I don't think a relationship between us two would last."

"Because I'm a geek," he says miserably.

"No!" I shout, earning a glare from the school's librarian. "It's not because of that. It's because I… I just can't be with you. Otherwise, the thing about Grant and me cheating on Cammie would all be pointless and she would be the only one hurting. I don't want to hurt her even more than I have."

"So you'll kill my heart instead?" he asks me.

"Jonas, I don't blame you if you now hate me, but it's for the best," I say softly.

He stares into my eyes, hurt written all over his face, before gathering his books and walking away.

I am such a bitch.

First I break my best friend's heart. And then I break the heart of a boy who's had a crush on me.

Why is everything going so badly for me?

**Cammie's POV**

Today, I'm going with my new look – the one where I am hard to reach, but totally worth it when you get there. Too bad I'm off boys. I guess that means nobody will get there. Macey's style has changed – again. It's like she's totally restless. Liz is going for cute but lethal. Jonas will be drooling. Right now, she's wearing a total normal schoolgirl look. She's got a skirt, a shirt and skin colour tights, but they all look as though she really couldn't care less about her appearance. We both decided that being 'twins' wouldn't work. She says it's because she can't stick with one style for more than two days, but I know the real reason is because she knows if she wears the same thing as me, she'll take away the spotlight and, being the nice friend she is, she doesn't want that to happen.

"Hey, where's Bex?" I ask Macey as I drive us and Liz to school in the new Ferrari sports car Abby gave me after I apologised for shouting at her for ages.

Macey replies, "She took an early bus to school and left a note on the table."

"Why's that?" comes Liz's voice from the back.

"Say it again, less high pitched and dreamy," Mace orders. Liz does so and Macey continues, "She wanted to start getting things sorted between you and Jonas."

Liz goes a tomato red.

"Aww," I coo, while Macey instructs, "No blushing. Well, you can blush a bit, but no ugly red blushing."

Liz blushes even more.

Bex is standing in the parking lot, next to the space where we usually have our car. It's a territorial thing. Being the most popular girls in the school is hard if you don't have your own reserved parking space. I just hope we're not scaring people away too much. I pull into the space.

"Hey Bex," I say, stepping out of the car. "How'd it go?"

"Look, I've basically told Jonas I'm not going to date him and now he's really upset," she said miserably. "I keep hurting everyone. If only I'd realised he had a crush on me…"

"That was cruel of us," I told her quietly. "I'm so sorry. Let's just say we're even now."

She nods, but still looks depressed when she says, "I know, but was it worth it? I mean, now I've lost the only person who still didn't hate me. And my mom won't let me come home so you never need to be bothered by me again because she wants me to sort things out with you. I'm totally alone and no one likes me. I totally deserve it."

I feel pity towards my best friend, or ex-best friend or whatever. "That's not true. Even if what you did was wrong, _no one _deserves to be alone in life. And even if I'm not going to forget about what happened, I still like you. Liz still likes you. And I'm sure Macey still likes you, somewhere in her heart." Macey nods but doesn't comment. I continue, "Now if Liz gets Jonas, at least she'll be happy. And that will make us all happy. Speaking of that, what are you still doing here Liz? You've got a date to arrange!"

"You're right!" she jumps up and rushes away.

"Walk calmly!" Macey shouts after her. "It doesn't suit your new look!"

We all laugh at how Macey's still thinking about that and all three of us start heading towards the library to see Jonas and Liz.

**Liz's POV**

I slow down to a walk after Macey shouts after me. I've _got _to impress Jonas. With a flutter in my stomach, I approach the library. Apparently, after Bex dumped him (or dumped-him-before-they-started-dating), he spent the rest of his time before registration in here, spending time with the things he understood most: books. Just like me. My heart's hammering in my rib cage as I walk into the aisle that he's in.

Huh. He's in the Biology section. Probably getting the book about muscles – the good one, I mean. An idea forms in my head.

I run my hands over the books, tilting my head as I pretend to skim-read the titles of the books. My fingers find his and we look into each other's eyes. I hear a sigh behind us. Macey, Bex and Cammie were following me? I should've known.

"Um… sorry, what book were you looking for?" Jonas starts blushing.

"This one," I hold up the book that we both know Jonas was looking for.

"Oh," he mumbles, "I wanted that too, so… Hey, didn't you used to go to Gallagher?"

"Yes?" I raise my eyebrow at him.

"Well, isn't that a school for geniuses or something?" he continues.

I shake my head, and giggle, thinking about just how wrong he'd got it. "I wouldn't exactly call it a school for geniuses."

"Well, I've seen you in Chemistry," he continues. "You're really fast. Like… the same speed as me."

He's seen me? Jonas Anderson has actually noticed me?

"You've seen that?"

He nods, "Well yeah, we're sitting next to each other. I was surprised you didn't copy me in the test. Most people do. And you're really good with experiments. It's like you've seen it all before."

"I love experiments," I smile. "I used to do it all the time at home. It scared the life out of my parents when I was using all the lab equipment when I was four but what the hey? It's fun."

He grins in this cute lopsided way. "Yeah, me too! Have you ever tried mixing hydrogen monoxide with sodium fluoride and pouring that into the teacher's water?"

"Yeah! And have you…"

And that's how Jonas and me started talking.

**Cammie's POV**

Nerd love. So adorable. They were both really shy at first but then _boom! _when they start talking about hydrogen monoxide, they can just talk and talk and talk forever!

Eventually, they leave the library and we start heading towards our first lesson.

"Cammie!" Dee Dee shouts behind me.

I turn around to look at her. "Hey Dee Dee! How's it going?"

"Great," she beams, "I've broken up with Josh!"

"You what?!" I splutter. "Why would you do that?!"

"You told me that after you break with Grant, it's ok for me to break up with Josh, so I did," she chirps.

"Dee Dee, everything's changed," I tell her comfortingly. "Grant cheated on me. You should be Josh's girlfriend!"

"It's too late," she says doubtfully. "I told him he was a possessive jerk and that I didn't deserve him. Then I punched him, kind of like you punched Grant and walked away. I told him I hated him and that I never ever want to be with him again."

"Well, tell him you only said that to get him and me together!" I thought up frantically.

Dee Dee shakes her head, "I won't and if you don't comfort him right now, I _will _kill myself and I'm not joking. I almost did it once, when my grandma died. Josh basically ignored me because he had his first girlfriend. He didn't mean to, but he did. Grant and Jonas weren't at the school yet and Dillon was a bastard who hated me because we had fought to be Josh's best friend for years, so I had no one. My parents used to have these ultra-long honeymoons – just the two of them – and I'd be in the house alone, except for a drunkard as my brother and my kind grandma. Then my grandma died of cancer and I was left with the drunkard. One night I brought out a knife that was just waiting in the kitchen and stabbed myself in the stomach. Well, I was aiming for my heart, but I got scared at the last moment and it went into my stomach instead. Luckily (or unluckily, if you want), my brother was in one of his non-alcohol moods so he found me and called an ambulance. My brother hasn't ever drunk a bottle of alcohol since. And I pretended I had appendicitis so people wouldn't know what I had done. But I'll do it again if you don't get back with Josh."

She has tears brimming in her eyes and I say jokingly to try and make her feel better, "Ok, drama queen! No need to kill yourself over me!" She smiles and I continue, "Look, I'll do it, but if the plan fails, you've got to go right back to him, ok?"

"Deal," she agrees and we shake hands.

I'm instantly feeling better. All four of us, Bex included, walk into the classroom. Most of the guys start drooling and most of the girls are staring at us enviously. Though I'm sure that's just because Macey looks stunning, as usual.

The teacher doesn't even look up as he says, "You're-"

"Not late," I interrupt. "We're bang on time. Well, we're three seconds over, but I don't think that really counts."

He looks up at me and starts drooling, right here. Gross. I swear he's like forty and has a wife… and not to mention like three kids.

"Go to your places," he says finally, and the start of a new day begins.


	20. The Friend Zone

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while but here it is. 21st chapter! Merry Xmas everyone!**

**Cammie's POV**

"Josh! Wait for me!" I cry as I see the top of Josh's head in the crowd. I run to him.

"Hey, Josh," I smile, as we walk out of school. I decided earlier to walk home instead of go in the car so I can start this whole 'get-back-with-Josh' thing.

He looks up and his face lights up like a bulb. "Hey Cammie!"

I love him. He's so cute.

"So, how're you doing?"

He shakes his head. "Not well. Dee Dee broke up with me, calling me a possessive jerk. I don't know what made her think that though."

Guilt washes through me, but I make sure that when I speak, it comes out normal.

"I heard about that. I'm not going too well either."

He grins at me. "Don't say that! You're the first of Grant's ex-girlfriends that is bouncing back instead of moping or plotting revenge against him. I'd say you're doing great!"

I blush and mumble, "That's what it looks like. But right now, I'm feeling all torn up."

He scowls slightly and growls, "He _so _did not deserve you, Cammie. You trusted him, and he used that against you."

"Well, I guess it's all over now," I say sadly.

"Yeah," he agrees and smiles back at me. "But we should put the past behind us. We should forget what happened."

"You're right," I replied. "I should forget that Bex kissed my boyfriend and I should become friends with her again. And you should put Dee Dee behind you. Maybe you should get a new girlfriend."

He nods and says, "I should get a new girlfriend, huh? And who should that be?"

"Someone you like," I roll my eyes. "Duh."

"But I don't like anyone except…"

"Except who?" I egg him on.

He blushes. "Except… you…"

"You can't be serious," I tell him.

He blushes even more and insists, "I… I am…"

"But… I literally dumped you for Grant," I say sadly. "Surely you're hurt by that?"

"I am," he replies, confidence fading from his eyes, "but I don't care. This may sound mean to Dee Dee, but I've never loved her. Or else I loved her as a best friend. But Cammie, even when you tore out my heart and stamped on it that night on the stairs, I still loved you. And I still do now."

I give him a dry smile. "So you're basically asking me to be your girlfriend."

"Uh…" he looks down, blushing in this awfully cute way. "Yeah, I suppose. But if you decide not to then-"

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend," I declare loudly, pecking him on the lips and hugging him.

We hear a cheer behind us. There's a crowd from school behind us, cheering at us two, probably for finally getting back together. Macey, Liz, Dee and Bex are at the front. I wave back at them and take Josh's hand in mine and rest my shoulder on his. I guess I knew subconsciously that there was a bunch of our friends and some random people who admire me and Josh's groups of popular people. I guess I just decided not to bother shooing them away. It's nice to know my spy skills will always be there for me if I need them. And with those spy skills, I notice the shadow darting away, out from behind a bush. Obviously a person, a boy of approximately our age. Weird.

**Zach's POV**

Today's the day. Today's the day I'll finally confess my feelings (oh, how Mom hates that word!) to Cammie. Today's the day we'll finally get together.

I see her call Josh and run to catch up with him. _Shit. _I have to follow them to make sure they don't kiss. They slow down to a walk outside the gates and Cammie doesn't even notice literally the whole year following them too. Either that or she's an exceptionally good actress. The crowd is walking too slowly, so we can only hear glimpses of their conversation. I silently slip out of it, leaving Dillon to talk to himself (well, I guess he doesn't really notice – I _am _an ex-CoC agent after all). I slip into the bushes by the sidewalk, not even caring if I'm on someone's front garden. Then I hear Cammie's sweet voice saying something dreadful – declares it to the world, more like.

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend," she says loudly and pecks her new 'boyfriend' on the lips.

I run away. That's what spies (or assassins) do when they're in danger of being caught. They run and run and run. But I'm doing it because I want to. I want to go away from this town and just forget everything that ever happened here. I can't though, because I'd wouldn't be able to stay away from Cammie, even if I tried. And because I'd have nowhere to go except back into the arms of my mother, who would probably make me kill Cammie for 'practice'. She says I have to toughen myself up and never let my emotions slide. She'd see my crush on Cammie as a weakness, a pesky fly in my way, which I'd have to swat to get rid of.

Not that it's getting me anywhere. I haven't told anyone about how I feel about Cammie, let alone her. I can't believe she thinks Liz and Bex and Macey are prettier than she is. Well I suppose they are, but only in different ways. Liz is cuter. Bex is hotter. Macey is wilder. And Cammie is the most naturally beautiful out of all of them. She doesn't even know it. I love that part of her too.

What is wrong with me? This has never happened before. Usually, _I'm _the one who people have a crush on. But with Cammie, everything is different. She can attract attention whenever she walks, with all that beauty, but she can also hide in her unique pavement artist way so that she is never noticed, unless her tailer is an exceptionally trained professional – like me.

I slowly trudge back towards my apartment, feeling miserable. The new sports car that Abby bought for Cammie is parked in its usual space. The glass window which I broke in our manic race to my car all that time ago still hasn't been fixed. I smile slightly at the fun memory, before she knew I was the enemy. I walk up the stairs, remembering the exact spot where Cammie was trying to pull herself out of Josh's grasp, tears spilling out of her eyes. I walk into my apartment and remember the exact place where Cammie stood, completely shocked at the fact that I live two floors below her, while the awkward tension grew to a deafening sound in our ears. I collapse onto my bed, thankful that I can finally have peace. My bed is the one place where I don't have some sort of painful encounter with Cammie, the one place where I can rest, without her image burning into my mind.

_You've fallen for her. Hard, _I tell myself, my head in my hands. _What happened to the cocky CoC agent you were before?_

_I don't know, _another voice in my head replies. _I just don't know._

There's a knock at the door. I heave myself off the bed and stagger towards the door as though I'm drunk, not even caring whether I look good or not. I open it.

Cammie. She's wearing a loose sweater and some tracksuit bottoms, rather than her new style. They both look too big for her, making her look vulnerable, but more importantly, cute. Her feet are only covered by thick socks – no shoes – but I suppose she decided not to bother. I mean, she isn't even leaving the building to see me.

"Hey Zach!" she exclaims happily.

"Cammie! Nice to see you here," I greet back, realising too late that I sounded way too happy. I quickly cover up by saying, "God, I'm bad at imitating people. Let me try again. Hey Cammie!"

"Fail," she says, coming inside and sitting on my sofa.

I don't remember saying 'come in'. She's lucky I love her, or she'd be dead meat already.

"Why are you here?" I ask her, smirking to cover up my eagerness and curiosity.

She pointedly ignores the smirk. "I came to tell you I got back together with Josh! Why he would still like me, I have no idea though."

_Because you're so beautiful and you've got such a brilliant personality, _I think silently. _Who wouldn't like you?_

Out loud, I reply casually, "Congrats, Gallagher Girl. Now you won't need to drool when you see him, because your mouth will already be mushed up to his."

She goes bright red and says indignantly, "That coming from the boy who dribbles whenever he's in the same room as the girl he likes."

"You know who that is?" I jolt, panicking.

She giggles. "No, I just wanted to see your face. It was totally worth it. Who is she anyway?"

I start to relax and tell her, "You know, I might tell you later…"

"Stop it!" she slaps me playfully. "It's just _evil _to say 'I might tell you later'! Please can you tell me?"

I shake my head, a slight smile playing across my lips. "But I guess I _could _tell you a few clues…"

"Yes!" Cammie punches the air with a triumphant look.

"Well… she recently got a new boyfriend, just when I was about to reveal my feelings about her…" I said quietly.

Cammie yells, "NO! That is _so _unfair! You should totally beat him up or something! You've got the skills!"

She's referring to my training from the CoC, and I wince.

"I don't really fight unless it's necessary," I say sadly.

"But it _is _necessary, dimwit!" she countered. "Hey, do you train anymore?" I shake my head and she says, "You know, you're always free to train with us. We've got all the equipment and everything."

I smile at her, "Thanks."

"Yeah, we've got training before school and after school so you could come over any time you want," she beams.

"Sure," I nod.

"First thing tomorrow morning?" she asks, as though organising an appointment with the doctor.

I nod, "I'll be there."

She grins and says, "So… what's the name of the girl's boyfriend?"

I raise my eyebrows, "Did you really think I would tell you? That's like giving away her name."

"Does she go to our school?"

"Yes."

"Does she like her boyfriend?"

"Her boyfriend is the guy she was dating last year."

Her forehead creases. "Hey! That's a bit like me and Josh!" My heart hammers in my chest for a moment. Have I given it away? She continues with a laugh, "It's funny how the world is full of coincidences, isn't it?"

"Yeah," I tell her, relaxing. "Funny."

Phew.

"Where does she live?"

"On this street."

"What number?"

"Not telling."

She pouts and then says, "Tell me what you like about her."

"I like the way she's stunningly beautiful, even though she denies it," I say dreamily. "She's exceptionally clever. She's really kind, even though her old boyfriend broke her heart. And if I told her my feelings, she'd be totally shocked, because I've already told her the girl I love has three admirers. She wouldn't believe that she has _three _admirers. She's not little-miss-goody-goody but she's perfect for me."

"Aw," Cammie coos and puts her arms around me in a friendly hug (which makes me feel sad, because I know this hug is _only _a friendly one - sadly once you get into the friend zone, there's no getting out). "You totally deserve her. You would be perfect for any girl, if you didn't just dump them afterwards. You're kind and charming, for starters. Every girl at school drools over you, but if you had the perfect girl, you wouldn't even notice them. You are totally faithful and loyal to your friends – I mean, you quit the CoC for them. You're the best boyfriend I've ever had…" WHAT?! "That came out wrong… I meant 'friend-who-is-a-boy'…"

She blushes in this adorable way.

"Are you sure you think all that about me?" I asked her with an aching heart.

She nods vigorously, "Of course I do! I'm absolutely sure that one day, that girl will be yours!"

"You think?" I asked her with a growing smile.

"I'm sure of it," she says confidently, before yawning. "Sorry, Aunt Abby wanted us to do some extra training last night. We weren't exactly going to sleep. Bex couldn't get to sleep – she hasn't been able to do that for the past few nights – and Liz, Macey and I were chatting. Abby said, 'If you're not going to sleep, why don't you train some more?' And so we did. We trained til three in the morning. I bet I could sleep in" – yawn – "one minute flat."

She collapses onto my sofa, and soon enough, she is asleep. She looks so peaceful, just lying there, as though nothing could ever hurt her. She has this innocent, cute expression of happiness on her face so I can tell she's having a good dream, and it's taking all my willpower to stop myself from pecking her on the lips. I carry her into my room and lay her down in the bed, tucking the covers over her with one hand, and with the other, I'm stroking her face softly. Sensing my touch somehow, she snuggles into my hand, trapping it under her head so I can't go. _Fuck you, willpower, _I decide after a few moments of an inner argument. I slide into the bed and she snuggles in even more, resting her head on my chest. It feels so good there, so natural. I wrap my arms around her and yawn as a sudden sleepiness washes over me. Then I'm asleep.

Suddenly the door's slamming open and my eyes fly open to see Anny glaring dangerously at me in the doorway. If looks could kill, I'd be in my grave already. Behind her are a scared Liz, Bex and Macey.

"WHERE IS CAMMIE?!" she shrieks. "WHAT HAVE YOU AND THE CIRCLE DONE WITH HER?!"

Then she notices Cammie in my arms and guess what? She panics even more.

"YOU'VE RAPED HER, HAVEN'T YOU?!" she hollers. "YOU'VE SEXUALLY HARRASSED HER, HAVEN'T YOU?!"

While I silently untangle my body from Cammie's warm touch, I reply calmly, "No, I have not. She fell asleep on my couch, so I carried her back here and fell asleep in the same bed. It is a rather large bed, so I thought there would be no privacy problems. It seems I was wrong."

Abby stares at me doubtfully, then looks at Cammie, then back to me. She says suspiciously, "So you _didn't _have sex with my niece?"

"No," I say firmly.

I can see the gears turning in her head, but finally she nods and says, "I believe you. Either you _didn't _have sex, or you are best liar I have ever met."

"Could be the latter," I point out smugly.

"Do you _want _to have your head smashed into the wall?" she returns, gazing at me with raised eyebrows.

"A very valid point," is the only thing I can say.

A very confused Cammie sits up, rubbing her eyes groggily. "What is?"

I shrug. "Your aunt was accusing me of having sex with you. I mean, we all know you want to, but we didn't, did we?"

She blushes an adorable red colour and says in a huffed tone, "I have a boyfriend already, idiot. So stop trying to hit on me."

Abby narrows her eyes and I whisper loudly, "Not helping, Cammie!"

"You shouldn't even be here!" Abby snaps at her niece. "You _know _Zach is dangerous! He's one of the CoC's legends, for God's sake!"

"He's not," Cammie says quietly. Then she goes on to explain about the encounter with Catherine at the hospital. Liz is looking incredibly pale, Bex looks like she wants to punch something and Macey just looks amused. I guess she knows about my crush on her best friend.

"It's impossible," Abby breathed at the end of the story.

I immediately say, "Nothing's impossible," then realise that it sounds like a cheesy pick up line.

"But… how do you know he's not a double agent for the CoC?"

"This is how," Macey says, with a cruel mischievous grin. "Look at Cammie for me, Zach."

I do. My breath catches at the sight of her shining halo of dirty blonde hair – slightly messy after waking up – and soft skin. She looks so natural and beautiful that I just want to melt. It's not like her usual Macey-approved style, which I must admit is hot sometimes, but is nothing compared to her original pure appearance. She's looking at me shyly back, with her wonderfully grey-blue understanding eyes, which hold wisdom, yet naivety.

"Fine," Abby snaps, breaking up the romantic moment. "Nobody could fake a look like _that._"

Am I really that obvious? And if so, why hasn't Cammie noticed yet?

"A look like what?" Cammie frowns.

Macey breaks into a grin. "Nothing, my young child. You're too young to know about these things."

Cammie cocks an eyebrow at her friend and they all burst out laughing. Only after the laughter has died down does Cammie mention that I am now going to start training with them. Luckily for us, Abby is now is too hysterically happy to really care.

**Merry Xmas everyone!**


	21. Abby and Joe - AWWW!

**I'm updating super quickly because a CERTAIN PERSON *cough*Uknowiloveyou*cough* said they'd only review if I update soon. And the truth is, I had the last chapter sitting on my computer for ages just waiting to be updated but I totally forgot! Don't hit me anyone!**

**Anyway, this chapter is pretty random, but it's really sweet.**

**xxx**

**[December]**

**Cammie's POV**

Wow. The past weeks have flown by in a blur. To be honest, not much has happened… Ok, a lot has happened but nothing _that _surprising has happened. There's been no break ups or whatever. But I guess I should give you a quick update anyway.

Zach and my girls are all great friends with each other now. Zach and I are practically inseparable. Josh and I are doing well together, except Josh seems a bit bothered by the closeness of his girlfriend and his best friend. Bex and I are best buddies again, but this time, we're even closer, because we now swore to share every secret concerning cheating on each other or on anything concerning boyfriends for that matter. Grant and I are on a first-name basis but can't have a conversation for more than a few words before it gets awkward and we make sure we're NEVER EVER alone together, EVER. Grant and Bex are growing even closer, but they aren't dating yet. Liz and Jonas are a literally a couple, but they are in denial about liking each other. Not surprisingly, Macey and Dillon have gone to third base (that's like _almost, almost _having sex, right?). Dee Dee has become real tight with Dillon for some reason – as friends – but Macey isn't jealous because she knows Dee Dee only has eyes for Josh. Every Sunday, Bex, Macey, Liz and I all go to Gallagher, and Bex, Liz and Macey sit with the school, but I have my traditional lunch with Mom and in addition, we now eat with Abby and Joe too. The last time we visited, Abby did this whole 'Oh, what the heck?' thing and kissed Joe as we were leaving, but they aren't dating… yet! Lastly, school finished a week ago and it's Christmas in a few days!

"Hey, Za-Mr Solomon! What are you doing here, Joe?" I grin, surprised at his sudden arrival and throw my arms around his neck.

"Did you miss me?" he chuckles back.

"Duh!" I roll my eyes, stepping away again. "I love Abby's CoveOps, but it's not the same as with you!"

"Really now, Cammie? I'm feeling the love," Abby raises an eyebrow behind us. "Great to see you again, Joe."

"You too," Joe smiles, though he's blushing the slightest bit. I'm the only one who knows (because Joe told me) but I'm pretty sure that Macey has used her boy skills to figure out that Joe Solomon has a crush on Abby. But then again, Abby has a crush on Joe, it's just she won't admit it to anyone, including me and Rachel. She's hiding it well, but Mom knew it a long time ago (when she, Abby, Mr Solomon and Dad first met) and she told me.

"Mr Solomon?!" Bex yells from the sitting room and there's a clatter as someone (probably Liz) knocks over something in her rush to greet Joe.

"Hello again, Mr Solomon," Macey says, pretending to be completely civil as she daintily shakes his hand, before cracking up at Mr Solomon's surprised face.

"It's great to see you again, Mr Solomon!" Bex crows excitedly, shaking his hand really vigorously. "Can you show me some more 'Solomon-invented' moves?!"

He's hardly finished his reply – which was 'Of course I will' … just thought I'd say … for the record – when Liz is hugging him and probably squeezing the life out of him, because I must say, that girl has arms like ox's when it comes hugs.

After taking off his coat, we drag him into the sitting room, where the sun, although cold and wintry, shines in brightly through the massive window. Solomon pulls out some Christmas decorations out of a box and we happily start to add some more decorations to the tree. I know it sounds childish, but give us a break. It was fun and it's Christmas!

"I need to talk to Abby," Mr Solomon says to us, fidgeting.

"Alright," Bex grins. We all wait to hear what he wants.

"Alone," he prompts.

Sulkily, we head out of the sitting room in single file and into my room. We all press our ears to the door.

We hear Joe's voice call out loudly, "Stop eavesdropping, you nosy people!"

Then the door swings outwards and we all tumble out. Once we're out, we brush ourselves off.

"_Please _can we stay to listen to what you have to say to Abby?" Macey whines.

Joe says firmly, "No."

We all give him puppy-dog eyes and I ask sweetly, "We can play _Hide and Seek: Abby version _and if you find us, we have to go out of the room, but if you don't, we can stay inside and listen. You have ten seconds to find us. How about that … _please?_"

"Oh, ok," he sighs.

"Hey, can I play?" we hear a familiar voice say from behind Joe.

It's Zach.

"How did you get in?" Abby laughs.

Zach shrugs. "It _is _rather easy, when the door is wide open."

"Shit! The door was wide open?" Abby says, surprised, yet good humoured.

"Yup, and I'm joining the game too!" He jumps up and down like a little kid.

I hold my hand out to signal for him to stop and say, "First, introductions. Zach, this is Joe Solomon. Joe, this is Zach Goode."

Joe stiffens slightly at Zach's name, but Abby whispers in his ear, "It's ok. Cammie trusts him."

He and Abby cover their eyes and count down from twenty, while we frantically find good places to hide. It's like we're little kids again. In the edge, I wedge myself in the spare closet that Macey has, solely for her purpose, because there wasn't enough space in the dressing room for her to stuff her clothes in there. I hide in the black and white section, because that's what I'm wearing – and yes, Macey _does _colour code her clothes, or rather, her stylists do, when they come once a week to choose what she should keep and what she should give away to charity. I throw some clothes on top of me.

"3…2…1…" Abby and Joe chant. "We're coming to get you!"

"Macey, Bex, I can see you fighting over the hiding place under the bed!" Mr Solomon calls and Macey and Bex emerge and walk out of the room, shoving each other.

Light spills into the wardrobe as someone opens it up. My heart is hammering in my chest because I really, _really _want to hear what Solomon wants to talk about to Abby. I hear a sneeze. I send a silent thanks to whoever did it.

Abby turns around and locates the place where the sneeze came from. She uncovers Liz under the table. "Found you, Liz! Now, out!"

A sullen Liz walks out of the sitting room. Abby takes one final glance at my pile of clothes, but decides I can't be in there and slams the door shut. I am thrown back into darkness, which I guess is a good thing.

"That's unfair!" I hear Zach whine. "You only found me because you've spent like twenty seconds trying to find me. You were supposed to have ten seconds!"

"We'll let Cammie stay in here," Joe says gruffly and there's the sound of someone shoving someone out of the room. "That's like letting all of you stay here."

**Abby's POV (This is new!)**

Not that I'd ever, EVER admit it, I kinda think Joe's cute. I mean he's got these absolutely gorgeous green-grey eyes and this mat of golden blond hair. He makes most girls that set their eyes on him swoon and when I first met him, that happened to me too. It was an experience I'd rather not relive, which ended in him getting a smirk wiped off his face and a bloody nose. Later on in life, I had told him I was just pretending to swoon and I'm guessing it worked, because nowadays, I've perfected my confident look and he looked somewhat disappointed when I had said that. I think it was because he wants every girl to fawn over him. Even though he's way too old for that teen attitude anymore. That's one of the things I love about him. He keeps me young.

By the look on everyone's face, I guess everyone was shocked when I kissed Joe. They had reason to, of course. Nobody was expecting it, and what's more, I had done it as we said goodbye… _in the dining hall. _Everybody was there. I was shocked too. I had given away too much about my emotions. What made it was worse was that Joe hadn't even reacted through the whole 87 seconds our lips were in contact. It was dead embarrassing. But keeping my cover, I shrugged and looked at Rachel, saying, "_Somebody_ had to do it," so that it looked like _she _was the one with the crush on Joe. Of course, I know that nobody could ever replace Matthew for her and I regretted it a little bit after I had said it, but at least something had come out of it. Now nobody knows I like him. Everyone thinks I'm just Rachel's wingman.

"So," I turn to Joe, "what did you want to talk about?"

Joe goes slightly red. "Uh… I was… well… would you… um…"

"Cat got your tongue?" I arch an eyebrow. "Just tell me if it's bad news or good news."

Joe blushes even more – more than ever before – and says, "That depends on what your opinion is."

"Ok then," I encourage him, curious about what has reduced him to such a stuttering red tomato.

He bites his lip and then says, "Wouldyouliketogooutwithme?"

"What was that?" I frown. I didn't catch a single word of what he was saying.

"Would…?" he trails off and then takes a deep breath. "Would you like to go out with me? Friday night?"

We hear a muffled gasp from within the wardrobe. In three long strides, I am by it and am flinging the door open. A flustered Cammie comes tumbling out, but when she looks up, she's beaming and totally radiating joy. Sometimes, I love my niece so much! She is _adorable_! But as I send her out of the room, I'm trying to figure out whether she was gasping because she is generally happy to see people getting together or that she's generally happy to see her godfather and her aunt getting together or… she is happy for _me _and she knows about my crush on Joe! Have I been obvious? No, I'm sure I cover up my tracks! Then how could… Maybe it's a Morgan family closeness thing? No, I never guessed about Rachel's crush on Matthew until they started dating. Then a thought hits me. Maybe she's happy for _Joe. _Maybe _Joe _has a crush on _me. _I quickly push the thought out of my mind. It's too impossible.

"Hello? Abby?" Joe waves in front of my face, looking slightly more at ease because there's no Cammie hiding somewhere, listening to everything he says. "You still haven't said anything and it's been twenty three seconds of you staring into air."

Coming back to my senses, I say happily, "Yes!" and I fling my arms around his neck.

He rolls his eyes. "Finally, you say something! I thought you were dead or something. Seriously, sometimes I wonder how you're a spy if you take _that long _to think."

Going back into serious mode, I ask him quietly, "Why me? There are plenty of other women who'd be happy to be your girlfriend. Why did you choose me? Is it that I'm just the best option out of all those girls right now?"

He looks gobsmacked. "No, of course not! I mean, you are the best option, but that wasn't the reason why I asked you out. It's because… well… I've never had the confidence until that day you kissed me. I mean, I know you were just trying to be Rachel's wingman (and by the way, I know she doesn't think of me romantically). But it had to take some gut to do that in front of the whole school. So I decided I'd return the favour. I was scared the whole way in the car from Gallagher."

I laughed. "Scared of what? That I'd beat you up?"

He plundered on, "I was scared that you would say 'no'. That all those years –twenty, I think – of crushing on you would be wasted."

"You had… you had a crush on me?" I asked him, astonished. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Why are you so shocked?"

"Because… I thought I was the one with the crush…" I trailed off, embarrassed.

"You are not fucking serious," he said with a wide boyish grin. "So all these years, we've liked each other and we didn't even know that the other liked us too? Shit! You have _got _to be kidding me! I mean, by now we could have like three kids at Cammie's age. We could be celebrating our twentieth anniversary!"

I slapped him in the arm playfully. "Not so fast! Firstly, I am _not _getting married before I have even dated the guy once and secondly, we are _not _having any kids. Well, maybe one if I'm in a good mood. Oh my God, we're already planning our lives! That's so weird. And sad… And I bet that the girls and Zach are at the door eavesdropping on everything we say."

"I'm not eavesdropping! I'm listening with mild interest!" Zach's voice came from the other side of the door as we heard the sound of five people backing away from the door – away from the crime scene. "Besides, eavesdropping is a _girl _thing to do and I'm not a girl! They also gossip, spread rumours and bitch about people! I don't do that – Hey, get off me! Ow, what was that for?!"

"That." *sound of someone being punched* "Was." *sound of someone being punched* "For." *sound of someone being punched* "Calling." *sound of someone being punched* "Girls." *sound of someone being punched* "Eavesdroppers." *sound of someone being punched* "Gossipers." *sound of someone being punched* "Rumour spreaders." *sound of someone being punched* "And." *sound of someone being punched* "Bitches!"

Holding Joe's hand, we head towards Cammie's bedroom to separate Bex and Zach.


	22. No Sparks Left

**Hey everyone, here's a New Year's treat! Happy New Year everyone and enjoy this new chapter!**

**Cammie's POV**

"Good luck, Abby!" I called, as I left the kitchen grabbing one of the four sets of home keys that I've got – just in case no one's home when I come back. "I'm going to Zach's!"

"I thought you were going to help me out and get me ready for my date with Joe!" Abby's voice came from the dressing room.

I laughed. "We all know that I can't do make up and apparently my dress choices are 'hideous'!"

As I walk out the door, I hear Macey saying, "She sure got that right!"

I'm grinning as I rush down the stairs to Zach's place. As I walk in – Zach gave me one of his spare keys so that I didn't need to wait for him to open it because there was this one time when I was left waiting awkwardly in the corridor for twenty minutes while he showered – I call out, "I'm home, loser!"

This was our regular routine.

"Welcome back, hon!" Zach called out in a girly voice.

That was part of our regular routine too.

I found him sprawled across the sofa eating popcorn and watching a film in the sitting room. He has a knocked over cup, which is spilling soda all over his carpet. Propped onto the coffee table are his two feet in disgusting looking socks. More of these socks are on the sofa. His muddy trainers are flung onto the carpet, and there's a mud stain, presumably where the trainer bounced. There's a pizza in a cardboard box which has obviously been delivered recently because there's smoke still coming off it and I catch a whiff – it smells _good. _But on top of one of the slices, there's a mouldy cheeseburger. Gross. The hygiene of this boy is unbelievable.

Picking up one of his socks, I throw it at him, saying, "You're the most unhygienic boy I know."

"It's not my fault!" he protests. "Today's an off day. I've been watching all day!"

"Well here's some exercise! Move your butt a few inches so I can sit down!" I tell him and he does so. "Why didn't you come to training this morning? I had to face the wrath of Bex, rather than Bex pairing up with Aunt Abby."

Zach chuckles. "As I said before – off day! Today's just one of those days where you can't be bothered to do anything."

"For you, that's every day," I roll my eyes. "What are we watching?"

"I'm watching _Skyfall _over again," he explains as Daniel Craig does a stunt off the train and there's an explosion. "I like picking out the things that a spy would never ever do and the mistakes in the film."

"Awesome!" I say and we settle into a comfortable silence as we concentrate on the film. At the same time, we shout out, "No gun makes that sound!"

"I said it first!" Zach says loudly.

I shake my head. "I did!"

"No, I did!"

"I did!"

Zach starts to tickle me and suddenly I'm rolling around the floor, giggling uncontrollably. He leaps on top of me, straddling me, and keeps tickling me and I keep giggling. Macey comes in, holding a phone.

"Hey – ooh, I'm disturbing something, aren't I?" she grins. "I'll leave you lovebirds to it." Then she says into the phone, "Cammie's busy right now… Oh that giggling? Yeah, that's Cammie laughing her head off… She's getting the tickle treatment from Zach… Ok. See you at school, Josh…"

"Wait!" I shout, grabbing the phone. "Hey, Josh!"

"Hey Cam," Josh's voice says on the other side. "Well, I was wondering… Do you want to go out tonight?"

"Sure," I replied. "Where to?"

"It's a surprise," Josh said.

I groan. "Josh, you know I hate surprises! This is going to kill me!"

"I know," he replies in a laughing tone. "That's why I did one!"

"Fine, at least tell me, should I wear posh or casual?" I ask.

"Posh," he says and then hangs up.

Posh? That is _not _a good thing. It means even more of Macey and Bex's torture.

"It's a date," I explain to Zach and Macey. "And Macey? It's your lucky day. He said the dress code is posh."

Macey squeals in excitement while Zach looks sorry for me and… sad?

"See you later, buddy," I hug Zach.

Then I'm dragged away for hours of torture.

**Abby's POV**

"Done!" Macey declares, examining her handiwork and she moves onto Cammie, who's looking as stiff as a board in the chair next to me. Bex automatically slides into the space behind me and starts brushing my hair.

Soon, it's curled in an absolutely beautiful way and I hug Bex in thanks. Someone rings the doorbell and Liz opens it to reveal Josh.

"YES!" Cammie shrieks. "Finally, I don't need to go through any more make up torture and she runs up to Josh and throws her arms round his neck. Josh laughs and they happily go out towards their date.

The doorbell rings and Liz goes to answer it. There's a flutter in my stomach. Today is dead important. It's the day when Joe and I officially start dating, or the day when I'll have to give up my twenty years crush. I use one of the breathing exercises that Gallagher taught us in seventh grade to stop myself from hyperventilating.

"Don't worry," Bex assures me. "We'll be giving you advice."

I shook my head. "It was nice of you to fix me up and all, but I'm not willing to go that far. I'm not going to let you tell me what to do on my date. That would just be you dating Joe… but without him knowing it."

"But Cammie is getting advice from Macey," Bex protested and we both looked at Macey who was talking into a mouthpiece, listening intently.

"Why? She'd do perfectly fine without Macey!" I told her.

Bex said, "Cammie told us that she had to have our help, or it would be really awkward."

"And has that happened before?" I asked sceptically.

"Yes," she confirmed, surprising me.

I frowned. "But why is she so happy with Josh if she can't be herself around him?"

"Beats me," Bex shrugs.

"Hey, hurry up in there!" Liz's voice shouts from the kitchen. Then her small blonde head pops round the door. "I'm really bad at small talk and I've already run out of things to say and it's getting really awkward and Mr Solomon is looking bored. Wait, you're already ready? What are you doing in here?"

With a sigh, I followed Bex into the kitchen. Joe's leaning on the table casually, looking like he's trying too hard to act casual. I almost giggle, before I quickly remember there are teens here and it's dead embarrassing to giggle in front of them. Next thing you know, the whole school is talking about it. Joe looks gorgeous though. He'd wearing a tux, but even through the fabric, I can see his muscles rippling. His blond hair is whipped into a hairstyle rather like Justin Bieber's, except he pulls it off even better. His green-grey eyes are twinkling and mesmerising, and I feel as though I'm sinking into them. Joe Solomon is the definition of 'hot'.

"Abby," he says in an awed tone, though I have no idea why – he's the only hottie in this room, "you look amazing."

I try not to blush, but I feel the heat automatically rising to my cheeks. When I reply, "thanks," though, I'm not the only one. Bex, Liz and Macey say it too.

Bex shrugs and says, "We were her stylists."

"Anyway," I turn back to Joe, "you're not too bad yourself."

"Not too bad? I know you're drooling to have a piece of this," he grins.

"Eewww," Liz says, thoroughly grossed out at the thought of an adult who is old enough to be her mom drooling.

Bex laughs. "Let's leave the two lovebirds to it."

Then they left, whispering to each other and giggling. Joe rolled his eyes and we left the apartment, and headed down to our car.

**Zach's POV**

As soon as I see Cammie walking into Josh's car from my window, there's someone picking my lock. Immediately, I get into a fighting stance, but when I check my miniscule camera on the door. She hurries into my sitting room – luckily for her, I had a crush on Cammie, otherwise I'd be annoyed with her for breaking in. And trust me; I am dangerous when I'm annoyed.

"Was that really necessary?" I demand, gesturing at the paper clip in her hand.

She rolls her eyes and holds a hand over her mouthpiece, blocking it, which I'm guessing is for giving advice to Cammie. "Pfft! Of course it was necessary, idiot! We both know that you've installed that camera so you can see who's out there and you weren't going to let me in otherwise, because you were going to mope about because this was supposed to be _your _night with Cammie, not Josh's and you didn't want me disturbing your misery. Come on, Bex and Liz have gone to watch Abby and Solomon together and we're going to help out Cammie and Josh."

"Why would I want to do that?" I ask in a despaired voice, not even bothered to cover up the fact that I have a crush on Cammie. "Why would I want to help her get closer to another guy?"

She presses her lips together. "That's so selfish! I mean, wouldn't you rather her happy with a guy she likes or just moping about because she's been dumped by her boyfriend."

"I suppose so-"

"Besides," she continues, cutting me off, "we have to make sure Josh isn't groping and too forward."

I shudder. "Alright, I'll go with you."

**Liz's POV**

"Bookworm, they're entering the restaurant," Bex informs me through our comms unit. "Let's go through the back door and get some uniforms. We'll pretend to be waitresses."

"You? A waitress?" I giggle. "You can't be serious. You'd probably start up a fight."

"No I won't!" she protests as we join together on the street after being in tailing mode. "How about we have a bet? Five dollars."

"You're on, Duchess!" I can't stop laughing. She spits on her hand and then holds it out, expecting me to shake it. "You can't be serious! Only guys do that!"

"We live in a man's world," she sighs dramatically and I clasp her hand, giggling still.

We head inside and get through the kitchens without anyone noticing us (I guess some of Cammie's chameleon-ness has rubbed off on us). Soon, we come across a sort of cloakroom where there are some waitress uniforms. Hastily, we pick some our size and change into them. Bex has some wigs and sunglasses that she bought the other day and we quickly put them on. As soon as we step out and start walking towards the actual restaurant, there's a man blocking our way, looking at us in horror.

"No sunglasses!" he bellowed. "You know the rules! This is a restaurant, not a dump! Take them off, right now! This is a strike. Three strikes and you're fired, understand?"

We both nod carefully.

"What're your names?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Joanna Smith," Bex says, making up names on the spot and her look tells me I had to do the same.

"Joanna Smith," he repeats, noting it down on his iPhone. He looks at me expectantly. "And you?"

I say hesitantly, "Um… I'm… Marge…"

"Marge what?" he snaps.

"Marge…" I frantically think of something to say. Finally something pops into my head. "I'm Marge Simpson." That seems kind of familiar… oh.

"Marge Simpson," he says slowly, tapping on his phone, not suspecting a thing, while behind him, Bex is looking like she could die with silent laughter. I can't believe the man hasn't even suspected a thing. He orders us to get something from the kitchens to serve and we quickly ran away, grinning madly at how easy that was. We pick up some dishes and look at who to serve them to and then head back towards the actual restaurant.

"There they are," Bex gasps and she discreetly points at a small round table where Abby and Joe are sitting, laughing. They seem so happy together, it's making _me _feel happy!

I look at my table number. 30, which means I'm serving Abby and Joe.

"Your dinner," I said in a gruff manly tone and Abby and Joe just burst out laughing.

Abby says between giggles, "Liz, that was a bad man impression, and besides, you're wearing a _girl's costume._"

"Oops," I say and Bex facepalms.

"There they are!" the man from before points at us and the manager comes striding towards us, his face livid.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my restaurant?" he demands. "What are your real names, if they aren't Joanna Smith and Marge Simpson?"

Abby and Joe start laughing again as Bex says quickly, "Time to go!" though I'm not sure whether they're laughing at the name 'Marge Simpson' or at Bex's words.

We sprint off.

**Cammie's POV**

Josh and I are walking hand in hand, through the streets of Roseville. It's a beautiful night; all the stars are out and the moon is shining brightly. We spent the night in a posh restaurant (there were two in Roseville, and luckily, Abby and Joe were in the other one), eating our dinner and laughing. It was really fun and expensive too. I had no idea Josh was willing to spend so much on me. It must really mean something. I'm glad that Macey decided to put a bug on my clothes and she gave me an earpiece so she can guide me through the dinner without it getting awkward. Man, I owe that girl my _life._

"Tonight's been great," I say, resting my head on his shoulder, on orders of Macey.

He smiles back, "Thanks Cammie." Then he looks troubled as he says, "Do you like Zach?"

"Yes, I like him a lot," I answer, frowning in confusion and taking my head off his shoulder to look into his eyes. I hear Macey face palming and calling me an idiot through my earpiece. What? What was so bad about my answer? I whisper into the bug, "I don't get it. What did I do wrong?"

Josh sucks in a breath. "You… you do like him?"

Then I realise he meant it in a romantic way. I blush deeply as I say quickly, "But only as a friend. I've never thought of him in any other way. He certainly doesn't think of me in that way either."

"Are you sure?" he asks doubtfully. "You seem to be spending a lot of time with him."

"He's just a guy friend," I assured him, though I don't get what the problem is. So what if Zach and I spend a lot of time together? It's not as if I'm cheating on him.

"Ok," he looks slightly more relieved. "It's just I don't want you to get hurt. Zach's a player and he'll play you like he has with loads of other girls."

"He doesn't do it purposefully," I automatically defend my best friend.

He stares into my eyes, "See? This happens every time. You're too trusting. You keep insisting that guys are perfect but they're not. Zach, Grant, they're all the same. If you don't like what happened with Grant, stay away from Zach too."

"Zach is not the same as Grant!" I say loudly.

He raises his eyebrows and says even louder. "Really? Zach's only been here for one year and he's got through almost as many girls as Grant, who started dating and dumping girls four years ago."

"He's just looking for the right girl!" I shout.

"That's what Grant said as well!" he shouts back. "They're all liars! Just take Grant and you! You guys broke up because he was cheating on you with your best friend, and as soon as you were out of the canteen, he was already chatting up with some other girls! He and Bex are dating already!"

"They aren't dating!" I yell back, a single tear rolling down my cheek. "And I can't believe you brought up Grant! You promised you wouldn't!"

"I think it's about time you stood up to it and got over it rather than ignoring the truth and putting it off! Why can't you admit that he is a player, Zach is a player and you should stay away from both of them?! It's been three weeks and you're still not over it! How long do I have to wait for you to grow up?"

Shocked, I study his blazing face, so livid with anger that if looks could kill I'd be in my coffin right now. Do I even know Josh anymore? Was Josh always like this, but I never noticed it? Or did I not know about this side of him because we weren't close enough? My eyes well up with tears and against my will; they burst onto my face and swim down in streams. My body kept shaking in huge shudders as I cried. This isn't the way the date was supposed to end! It was all so perfect up until the point when Zach was brought up!

Suddenly his expression softens and he goes back to the cute guy I know and love. He pulls me closer and wipes away all my tears, cooing softly in my ear, "I'm sorry, Cam. I'm so sorry," over and over again. Then he envelopes me in his arms and draws me into a slow, gentle kiss. It's beautiful, tender and sweet and full of feeling. It's one of the best kisses Josh has ever given to me.

But the sparks I felt before have gone. Instead of wanting to feel his lips crushed against mine forever, I want to break it off. What happened? Why has the spark left me? We've got into fights like this one (except not about Zach) all the time, but we've always ended in a kiss like this one, and I've loved every time. What went wrong?

Nevertheless, I act as though everything's like normal. I'm desperately trying to get into the kiss, but I can't. It's impossible. Thankfully, Josh doesn't notice anything and when he finally takes his lips off mine, he looks happy again. Looks like this one have often got me in a cheery mood – sometimes even delirious – but today there's nothing. I ignore the growing feeling that's gnawing the inside of me and put my heart into acting normal.

"Hey babe, you look tired," he smiles. "Maybe we should get going back."

I nod and he picks me up bridal style – again, there's no flutter in my stomach – and carries me towards his car. There's a silence as we speed back to my apartment.

"What's wrong?" he asks, putting a hand over mine. "You seem… distant."

"Nothing, I'm fine," I say quickly. "I'm just… glad we ended tonight in a happy way."

He stares at me for a moment, and I know he doesn't believe me, but he chooses not to say anything. After a long silence, he finally says, "We're here."

"Thanks for everything," I say, pecking him on the cheek. Then I run back into the building and into my apartment where I find Macey and Zach panting.

"You were watching the whole thing, weren't you?" I accuse them and they both nod, though Zach refuses to look into my eyes. I realise that's because of me and Josh's little argument. "Sorry about Josh. He didn't mean all those things he said about you."

"It's fine," he smiled weakly. "You shouldn't be apologising. I should be thanking you. You stood up for me."

"Well, that's what friends do, right?" I grinned at him.

"Yep," he replied, still looking downcast. "That's what friends do."

"Hey," I try to cheer him up. "Don't believe any of that crap about us liking each other. It's not true. Josh just had it wrong, that's all. It's all going to pan out, you'll see. You'll get your secret crush to date you, and Josh will see we're just friends. Then we'll all be happy, see?"

Macey snorts and drawls sarcastically, "That's _so _going to work."

"Shut up!" Zach hisses at her. "She doesn't know who my crush is!"

"I could kind of tell," Macey laughs.

"She knows your crush!" I say excitedly and scoot closer to Macey. "Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, please!"

She laughed evilly. "That's for Zach to tell you and Zach alone."

"Damn it!" I stamp my foot on the floor and grin at them. "I'm going to get it out of you two, if it's the last thing I do!"

Then Bex and Liz burst into the room, panting from running.

"So, how did it go?" Macey asks mildly, swiftly changing the subject.

"Great!" Bex yells, punching the air, and then collapses onto the sofa from exhaustion. "Seriously they were laughing the whole way through! I mean, it's not like we were there the whole time… we got kicked out twelve times by Abby and Joe and four times by the manager."

"It's not my fault that I can't think up good names," Liz protests.

Bex laughs and explains, "She used the names: Marge Simpson, Kourtney Kardashian, J.K. Rowling and Johnny Depp."

We all burst out laughing and giggling.

"They weren't laughing at the end though," Bex said after we had all died down. "They were doing this goo-goo eyes thing at each other and they didn't even notice us waving feathers in front of their noses. Cammie, you would _not _like to see your aunt and your godfather doing that. You'd probably be scarred for life."


	23. The Jealousy Plan

**Hey, y'all! Back to school yesterday UGH! I just deleted two of the chapters (author's notes) because I know how people hate author's notes so I thought it would be easier for people who don't like pressing the 'next' button an extra time.**

**J**

_Last chapter_

_Then Bex and Liz burst into the room, panting from running._

_"So, how did it go?" Macey asks mildly, swiftly changing the subject._

_"Great!" Bex yells, punching the air, and then collapses onto the sofa from exhaustion. "Seriously they were laughing the whole way through! I mean, it's not like we were there the whole time… we got kicked out twelve times by Abby and Joe and four times by the manager."_

_"It's not my fault that I can't think up good names," Liz protests._

_Bex laughs and explains, "She used the names: Marge Simpson, Kourtney Kardashian, J.K. Rowling and Johnny Depp."_

_We all burst out laughing and giggling._

_"They weren't laughing at the end though," Bex said after we had all died down. "They were doing this goo-goo eyes thing at each other and they didn't even notice us waving feathers in front of their noses. Cammie, you would__not__like to see your aunt and your godfather doing that. You'd probably be scarred for life."_

**[Back to school for the second term/semester]**

**Grant's POV**

Cautiously, I step closer to her. She is so pretty with the winter sun illuminating her dark brown hair. Her eyes twinkle as she looks up at me, hopeful, even though I rejected her so many times. I don't even know why she still likes me. I told her that Cammie was the only girl I like, but she's come bounding back to me like a faithful dog and now we're good friends. I just hope I can get out of the friend zone. Man, she's even hotter than Cammie.

I think I'm falling for Bex Baxter.

No way. I _never _fell for people, Cammie being the exception. _They _always fell for _me. _Just like Bex had. But I'm not supposed to fall for her. I'm supposed to smirk and hook up with her, and then dump her into the trash. What happened to the awesome suave Grant that every girl giggled about in the corridor?

"Bex," I clear my throat, "I know you said you were fine with just being friends, but… I'm not sure I want that anymore."

Bex frowns, trying to work out what I am saying. Then her lip quivers slightly. "You mean… you don't even want to be friends anymore?"

"No I mean," I step even closer and break into a sexy grin, "I want to be more than friends."

Colour rises to her cheeks and she mumbles, "O…ok then. When do you want to go out?"

Except there's something significantly different about the way she says it, almost like an accent that I can't place. Suddenly it dawns on me and I ask her incredulously, "You're British?"

She grins and says in an overly Cockney accent, "Bloody hell, Grant! I'm a Brit – 'ave yew got a problem wiv that?!"

I laugh. "Why didn't you let your British accent show before?"

"Well, I guess I didn't want to be different from everyone else," she says, reverting back to just a slight tint of British.

"Anyway, how about tomorrow, eight o'clock, at your place?" I ask.

She nods. "See you there."

"See you there, British Bombshell," I agree.

YES!

**Liz's POV**

"Um, hey Jonas," I mumble as he approaches me in the library. He sits down in the chair opposite me and pushed my pile of thick books onto the floor so he can see me without books in the way. It's a really un-Jonas-like move.

"Hi Liz," he says back, equally nervous, though I don't know why. "So, um… are you… free? Tomorrow, I mean."

"Oh, yeah," I smile sweetly at him. "Why'd you ask?"

"Uh…" he stammers, "I… w-wanted t-to know if y-you'd g-go out w-with me…" I paused and I'm guessing he took it the wrong way. "I mean, if y-you d-d-don't, I c-can just g-go now…"

I grins, happier than ever and throw my arms around his neck, exclaiming, "No, silly, I just couldn't believe it. I've been waiting for so long that I was wondering if you'd ever do it! Macey kept telling me you'd man up and ask, but I was wondering if perhaps you still liked Bex! Of course, I'll go out with you! When do you want to?"

He breaks into a warm smile. "Tomorrow. I'll pick you up at eight."

Then he leans over the table and kisses me. It is short, but made all these weeks of waiting worth it. It's full of meaning and it's passionate, but not hungry. And it wasn't too short to be able to call it a peck, but not long enough to call it a snog. He quickly hurries out of the library, leaving me dazed at my desk. When I finally come to my senses, I realise what just happened. My crush, Jonas Anderson, the cutest boy in the world, just kissed me. I can't believe it. When I leave the library, there's a new spring to my step and I can't seem to stop dancing to myself.

**Cammie's POV**

Bex runs up to me happily, squealing, "I'm on a date with Grant!"

We high five, laughing and immediately start talking about what she should wear. I'm not a fashion type of person, but she is so excited, I just can't burst her bubble.

"Guess what?" Liz runs towards us. "Jonas just asked me out!"

"I knew you had it in you," I say proudly, and we continue walking back towards the car, with chirpy chatter.

"Oh my God!" Macey says excitedly, running up to us. "Tomorrow's me and Dillon's two months anniversary! Dillon said he's never dated with the same gal for that long before!"

"How about we go on a quadruple date?" I suggest and this sets the other three discussing about our clothes and what we have _got _to wear. (Macey won't let me choose _anything _to do with my outfit this time, because I ditched most of her 'hard-core' outfit. I mean, I've still got the combat boots, and the colour scheme is the same, but I've ditched the miniskirt and the half-up, half-down hairstyle.) Luckily, they're so caught up in their own fantasies to notice how dejected I'm looking. This'll be their nights, but Josh doesn't mean so much to me anymore. Sure, I care for him, but I can't call it loving him without lying. Ever since the restaurant night, there's something different about my boyfriend that I never noticed before. All our kisses are never good anymore, and instead of experiencing the passion, I'm just left _remembering _how it used to be when I was Cammie the girl with the cat called Suzie, those days when Josh meant the world to me.

"Cammie, what's wrong?" Bex looks at me suddenly and I snap out of my thoughts to find all three girls staring at me with concern. I guess I wasn't so lucky after all and my friends _weren't _so caught up in their fantasies to notice me. Damn it! Now I have to come up with some _really _good excuse to fool three Gallagher girls.

"I'm just… tired, that's all," I say, and they all stare at me in that 'is-that-all-you've-got?'look of theirs. I sigh. "Fine, it's Josh."

Bex and Liz motion for me to continue, but Macey says, "Then don't say it now, sister, because he's walking towards us right now!"

"Cammie, we need to talk," Josh approaches me.

After instructing my friends to go home in the car and telling them that I'll take a lift home with Zach, I follow Josh into a quiet corridor. Why he's taking me here, I have _no _idea.

"You've got to stop spending time with Zach," he says bluntly. "You're spending too much time with him and there are rumours flying around that you're dating him."

"What?!" I frowned. "Firstly, I am _not _dating Zach and secondly, if you're not happy about it, why don't you just tell everyone the truth. That I'm _not _dating Zach. Why is it so difficult?"

"I can't just say that!" he says angrily. "People will think I'm just in denial!"

"Fine, how about _I _just tell them to stop spreading rumours about me and Zach," I say neutrally.

"But they'll think _you're _just in denial!" Josh insists. "Look, either you break it off completely with Zach or we're over."

"This isn't just what other people think of us, is it?" I say quietly. "It's about how much time I'm spending with my best friend rather than with you."

He scoffs, "I don't care about that! You're just being self-obsessed. You think everything's about you."

"And you're just being possessive," I retort. "You think I belong to you."

We stare at each other for a full minute (and three seconds) before I break the silence by saying tiredly, "Look, can we just settle our differences for one more night? Two of my friends have just got new boyfriends and one of them is celebrating her two month anniversary. Can we just be nice to each other and pretend everything is ok until afterwards? Tomorrow's their special day and I don't want to ruin it."

"Fine," he agrees. "But after the date, we have to talk properly."

**Zach's POV**

"Oh! Hey Cammie," I greet her in a surprised tone as she comes into the boys' changing rooms after football practice **[A/N that's 'soccer' to any Americans reading this].**

Grant just raised one eyebrow and Dillon points out, "The sign on the door reads 'Boys' Changing Rooms'. If you want the girls' ones, they're in the room with the door saying 'Girls' Changing Rooms'. Besides, cheerleading trials are on Monday!"

She rolls her eyes in that adorable way of hers. "No, I'm here because the girls left with the car and I don't have a ride home. So Zach, do you mind if I go with you?"

"Sure," I nod.

She smiles, "Thanks Zach! Love you!" Then she hugs me and skips off saying, "I'll meet you in your car!"

I notice she says _in _the car, which means she knows how to break in. I silently shake my head, grinning. She probably learnt that from Gallagher. Then I notice how many other guys are looking at me jealously, and I remember just how lucky I am to have Cammie as a best friend, even if it isn't as great as being her boyfriend. All these other boys drool when they see her and if they got a hug from her, they'd probably faint. That's how popular Cammie is.

When I've finished changing, I head over to the parking lot, where Cammie was sitting in my car, going through some stuff in the passenger seat compartment. Hopefully there's nothing embarrassing in there. Shit. There's this poem I wrote for Cammie:

**C **is for CUTE.  
**A **is for ADORABLE.**  
M **is for MESMERISING.**  
M **is for MAGICAL.**  
I **is for INDESCRIBABLE.**  
E **is for ENCHANTING.

That would be so humiliating if she found it out. I run over to my car and get in. Thankfully, she hasn't found it yet. She holds up a condom.

"You have a _condom _in your _car_?" she asks sceptically.

"Emergencies," I shrug and turn on the engine.

"What's this?" she holds up the poem and begins to read. Damn it! I try to snatch it out of her grasp, but her hand dances away and I can't fight for it more without swerving the car. Once she's finished reading, she looks shocked.

"Um, Zach?" she says nervously. "Did you write this?"

"No," I lied. Hopefully CoC agents are better liars than Gallagher girls are at detecting them. "Josh wrote it in my car and was going to give it to you, but he left it in here."

"Oh," she replies, looking somewhat guilty when I mentioned Josh's name. "When did he write it?"

"Like two days ago," I answer automatically and she looks even guiltier.

We travel the rest of the way in silence. She's deep in her thoughts and I don't want to disturb her. It's only when we arrive in the apartment parking lot that she speaks.

"Thanks again, Zach!"

Then she runs off, back towards her apartment.

Twenty minutes later, there's a knock on my door.

"Who is it?" I call out, not bothering to check the camera I installed.

"Macey!" the voice shouts.

I open the door and look at her expectantly. "What?"

She grins happily. "I know how to tell whether Cammie likes you or not!"

"Great!" I exclaim. "How?"

"Well, we can only do it if Dee Dee wants to," Macey says, whipping out her phone and dialling Dee Dee's number. "Hi Dee Dee! So basically, there's this quadruple date tomorrow for Cammie and Josh, Grant and Bex, Liz and Jonas, and me and Dillon. We were wondering if you could come."

"But I don't have a date," I heard Dee Dee's voice from the other side. "I don't want to be the awkward ninth."

"You won't be," Macey assures her friend. "You see, I have a plan that will tell you whether Josh likes you or not. It's all based on jealousy."

"What is it?"

"It's simple," Macey instructs. "You and Zach have to go together as dates. If you notice any weird behaviour from either Cammie or Josh, it means they like you!"

"Count me in," Dee Dee says and I agree. I need to know this, even if it's bad news.


	24. The Joint Date

**[The next day, a few hours before the big date]**

**Cammie's POV**

"Hello?" I picked up the phone.

Zach's voice replies, "Hey Camster."

"Uh, Zach, you do know I could just come down and speak to you in person," I suggest.

"NO!" he shouts quickly, but I hear a girl's voice shouting it simultaneously in the background.

I roll my eyes. "Macey, what are you doing at Zach's? Do you want me to tell Dillon you're up to something?"

"No!" she shouts into the phone and I'm guessing Zach passed it to her.

"Fine, tell me what you're doing," I threaten, "or he'll find out soon enough."

"NO!" she yells. "Fine, I'll tell you. I'm helping Zach figure out a plan for getting his crush to date him."

"Great!" I grin. "Count me into the plan!"

"Nope," Macey replies quickly. "We only need two people and we've already found them."

"Aw, shucks," I say. "I was hoping I could guess who the mystery girl is. Ooh! How about this? You tell me who Zach's crush is or I'll tell Dillon that you and Zach are making out right now."

There's a slight pause before Macey says confidently, "You wouldn't do that to your best friend forever."

I sigh. "You're right, I wouldn't. Pass the phone back to Zach."

"So anyway, what did you want to talk about?" I ask.

"Oh, well Macey told me about that date you're going on tonight," he says. "I wanted to go too with a date, is that ok with you?"

"Sure," I nod. "But who are you going with? You haven't dated since Tina and, man, that was _ages _ago."

"It's Dee Dee," he says.

"What?!" I exclaim, surprised. "But I thought she still isn't over Josh! I didn't think you two were close!"

"I'm telling you," he replies, sounding happier than before. He must _really _like Dee Dee! "We've got something special."

"Well, lucky her," I say with a tinge of something in my voice. It's envy. I realise it's because I wish Josh and I were like that. Luckily, it's nothing to do with Zach. Thankfully. If I ever developed a crush on him, it would be _so _hard to keep pretending everything's normal.

Something dawns on me. I think I know who Zach's been crushing on. Dee Dee. It all makes sense now. He arrived at Roseville High in October last year, which is why he said he told me he had a crush on her since October. She had been dating a guy on Zach's soccer team (which is why he said his crush was dating his friend) called 'Jake' for a long time, but then they broke up. Then she started dating Josh. And then she broke up and got together with Jake again, but only for a couple of weeks. It all fits. Dee Dee isn't a player. He said his crush went to Dee Dee's party – duh. She does live on our street (it's a long street, ok?) too.

I'm about to say something, when there's a beep sound as he hangs up on me. Wait, what?!

**Zach's POV**

"She likes me!" I say confidently, smugly, to Macey.

"You're not out of the danger zone yet," she warns. "There's still a possibility she doesn't like you that way."

"Yeah, right," I say sarcastically. "Did you hear her? She started questioning me about how she didn't know we were close and she sounded so jealous when I said we have something special!"

"I'm not so sure," Macey says doubtfully, chewing her lip. "It sounded more like she started questioning you because she thought Dee Dee likes Josh and she might have sounded jealous because she wishes that she and Josh were like that."

"She and Josh _are _like that," I insist, letting a bit of envy creep into my voice. Josh is so lucky to have a girl like her.

"They aren't. Trust me. I'm the relationship genius here," Macey grins. "Haven't you seen the tension between them for the past few days?"

"No," I say desperately, trying to cling onto my dream of having Cammie jealous of someone dating me. "Don't burst my bubble, ok?"

She shrugs. "It's either me bursting it, or you bursting it yourself when we're at the date. Now, go clean up for the date! I'm going to help out, so lucky you. You should be grateful. My girls are probably dying out there."

I sigh. "We've got four hours. Do we really have to take this long cleaning me up?"

"Duh," she rolls her eyes. "Do you want to look good or not?"

"Fine," I say, before raising one eyebrow. "Why are you helping me out anyway?"

"Because it must be hell for Dee Dee," Macey explains. "She sacrificed her boyfriend and her long-term crush for Cammie and now, they're not even meant for each other. And Cammie doesn't like you yet, but you never treat her like more than a friend, because you're too scared of rejection. I'm sure when she sees you tonight she'll love it. I'm pretty sure you guys are really meant for each other. Oh, and btw, if you dare dump her or cheat on her, I'll kill you and don't even think about Bex will do."

I gulp. "But I won't. I'd never do that to her."

"You'd better not," she warns, before getting to work.

**Cammie's POV**

We all arrive at the cinema, and this is my third time I've been on a date here. First it was Josh, then it was Grant, and now back to Josh again. Every time has been different. The first time was all sweet and innocent, beautiful in its young way. We were so happy back then. The second time was filled with a fiery passion that I needed to get over my break-up with Josh. And now we're back again, except this time, Josh and I are the only ones who aren't happy.

Grant and Bex have been making out, non-stop through the movie, even though this is their first date. Meanwhile, Liz and Jonas have been glancing at each other and blushing deeply whenever they both look at the same time, but at least they've gone as far as holding hands. Dillon is sitting alone, his arms crossed over his chest, because Macey hasn't arrived yet, for some reason. She just disappeared a few hours before the date. The last time I hear of her, Zach was calling me and she was there too, but when I tried to unlock Zach's door with my key, I found there was some kind of barrier blocking the way in and Zach yelled at me to not come in.

"Sorry we're late!" we all hear a voice hissing through the darkness. We all glance up to find Macey, Dee Dee and Zach standing in front of us.

Macey looks slightly exhausted, but is still looking as stunning as usual in a glimmering blue and black dress. She has diamond earrings and shades which she takes off and puts into her designer handbag. Then she hurries over to Dillon, kisses him a quick 'sorry' and sits on his lap, where they start making out – which is gross, because seeing your best friend like that with a boy you used to hate does _not _work out.

Dee Dee's looking as cute and pink as usual. She looks a bit flustered, but not messy, so I can tell they haven't made out yet. For some unknown reason, that kind of relieves me. What relieves me even more is the fact that Dee Dee's not even looking at Zach. She's staring dreamily at Josh, so I can guess that she still likes him. Perhaps she's only dating Zach to make Josh jealous. But then again, she wouldn't do something as cruel as that without telling him.

And Zach? One word. Hot. For the first time, he's cleaned up nicely, with his hair styled nicely, designer clothes, a jasmine aroma radiating off him (what a coincidence – that's my favourite flower!) and an air of cool around him. Of course, he has that all the time, but usually he goes for the 'I can't be bothered in a cool way' thing, rather than the 'I'm so cool and can affor designer stuff' thing. Luckily, there's no one else from school here, otherwise they'd be crowding around him and swooning. Even the strangers are looking at him and whispering things and nudging each other. He looks good enough to turn guys gay at the sight of him.

Dee Dee is one lucky girl if he cleaned up this much for her.

He catches my eye for a second and grins, before quickly looking away. Then he grabs Dee Dee and swiftly pulls her into a kiss, held for a very long time. A pang of jealousy jolts through me. What's wrong with me? I don't like Zach as more than a friend! And I definitely don't like Dee Dee as more than a friend either!

"Ahem!" Josh clears his throat and Dee Dee and Zach break apart and look at both of us. Then Josh blushes and says quickly, "I… uh… you're blocking the view."

I'm guessing Josh still likes Dee Dee then. Genuine sadness fills my heart. I miss what we had before, when we were so young innocent and loved each other _so much. _I miss those days when I could look deep into Josh's stunning eyes and truthfully tell him I love him. I miss every gentle kiss, and at the same time, I miss every fiery kiss that we shared. I'm guessing we can't have that anymore. Our chances were ruined a long time ago, even before we got back together, even before I came to Roseville. It ended when Josh found out I went to Gallagher, that moment when all the trust between us dissolved. All this time, I've just been blinded by memories of a happier time.

Suddenly I'm brought back to a special memory, the first time I came to this cinema – that date with Josh. I was running through the secret tunnel and I emerged in that alleyway out of the bin. Then I ran into that guy… I realise with a jolt he was Zach.

It's a small world.

"Zach, what were you doing at the bin, that night in October?" I ask him.

"Huh?" is his only reply.

"That night when I was on a date with Josh and you were there, at the bin," I prompt.

"Oh, that night!" he exclaims. "You finally remembered?"

"It came to me just now," I explain. "You still haven't answered the question."

"Um," he bites his lips, before saying carefully, "The _Circle _of friends (my _mother _made) told me fish around in the bins because she wanted to find some information on the _daughter _of _Matthew._"

All our Roseville friends looked at us weirdly, but we Gallagher girls know.

We settle down to watch the movie.

**[After the joint date]**

**Zach's POV**

"So, relationship genius," I start, "what do you think?"

She breaks into a grin. "I think she definitely likes you more when you're cleaned up. It was quite hard to read, but I could tell she's definitely into you, in a way more than just friendship. But don't push it; I think she only started liking you today and I don't want you to rush her into dating you."

"She's into me?" I repeat disbelievingly.

"Yup," she nods.

"Ha!" I shout at her. "I told you!"

Macey rolls her eyes. "She's into you, but she wants how she was with Josh more than she wants you. She's clinging to the past, even though it's never going to come back, and she knows it."

"She wants Josh more than me?" I sigh, my shoulders sagging.

"No," she shakes her head. "She wants what she had with Josh."

"Had?" I frown. "They're head-over-heels in love!"

"Nah," she replies. "Just you watch. She'll be available in a couple of days."

**So what do you think? Any reviews are welcome!**

**Love you!**

** xxx**


	25. The Second Break-Up

**Sorry, it's a bit shorter than normal but it's got the dramatic break-up scene all you Zammie fans were waiting for!**

**Enjoy!**

**J**

**xxx**

**[A few days later]**

**Cammie's POV**

"Josh!" I run up to Josh in the corridor. "We need to talk!"

"Sure," he shrugs. "What did you want to talk about, Cammie? Is it anything important? Because I have to get to my swimming practice. I don't have all day."

"See?" I insist. "This is what I'm talking about. You never have time for me anymore."

"I'm sorry, but I'm really busy," he says nonchalantly.

"Well, you seem to have enough time to spend with Dee Dee and just about every other girl in the school! Don't pretend you don't!" I point out.

He says sarcastically, "Oh yeah, because you _never _spend time with your precious little Zachy."

"But I don't like him the way you like Dee Dee," I argue.

He panics for a few seconds before saying quickly, "What are you talking about?"

"You've developed a crush on her, haven't you?"

"N-n-no," he stutters. "D-d-dee Dee? No, o-of course n-not!"

I sigh heavily. "You do, and we both know it."

He suddenly frowns and the mood between us changes. "You've got a crush on Zach! Despite what I told you about him, you still had to go and spend time with him! What's wrong with you? Why don't you understand that I'm only trying to protect you?"

"Why don't you understand that I don't need your protection!?" I retort loudly.

"Well why don't you understand that it's not safe for you to be running off with the school's most heartless player?!" he shouts back and we must've been walking while we talk because I'm finding myself in the middle of the parking lot. Already we've been loud enough to attract the attention of nine people, who are sticking their heads out of the windows to see us.

"He's not heartless and he's not a player!" I yell back. "I'm not running off with him!"

"Yeah, right! You're being incredibly selfish! Why can't you just let me look after you?! I'm your boyfriend!"

"BUT YOU'RE NOT SOME SORT OF PSYCHO STALKER!" I scream at him. "YOU'RE TREATING ME WAY TOO BADLY AND I'M NOT PUTTING UP WITH IT ANY LONGER! YOU TELL JOKES THAT COME AT MY EXPENSE! YOU DON'T LET ME HAVE ANY GUY FRIENDS SO IT'S LIKE BEING IN AN ALL GIRLS' SCHOOL AGAIN! YOU FLIRT WITH OTHER GIRLS IN THE CORRIDOR WHILE I'M WALKING WITH YOU BUT YOU CALL YOURSELF 'NOT A PLAYER'!"

"WELL YOU'RE NOT LITTLE MISS PERFECT EITHER!" he roars. "YOU SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR BEST _GUY _FRIEND THAN WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND! YOU CAN'T GET OVER A BREAK-UP WITH A BOYFRIEND WHO WASN'T WORTH IT! YOU THINK EVERYTHING'S JUST LIKE THAT POSH SCHOOL OF YOURS! YOU THINK EVERYTHING SHOULD BE HANDED TO YOU ON A GOLDEN PLATTER! I'M FED UP OF BEING YOUR BUTLER! FOR GOD'S SAKE, CAMMIE, HOWEVER HARD YOU TRY, YOU WILL NOT BE A ROSEVILLE KID LIKE US! NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU PRETEND, YOU'LL ALWAYS BE THAT RICH SNOB FROM GALLAGHER!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" I shriek, slightly hysterical. "A RICH SNOB?! REPEAT THAT AGAIN FOR ME?!"

"YOU'RE A RICH SNOB! THERE – I JUST DID IT!" he bellows. "I BET YOU WOULDN'T LAST ONE DAY IN WORKING CLASS! YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FEND FOR YOURSELF IF PEOPLE ATTACKED YOU!"

A malicious glint flashes across my face and although I may be letting people into the secret of Gallagher, I can't think right now and my hormones are in control rather than my brain. I challenge, "REALLY NOW? YOU THINK YOU COULD TAKE ME ON? FINE! COME AT ME, JOSH!"

"I FORGOT TO ADD TO YOUR LONG LISTS OF FAULTS THAT YOU HAVE!" Josh yells, and by this time, most of the school is watching us. "YOU'RE ALSO REALLY BIG-HEADED! YOU THINK YOU'RE SO GOOD, BUT MAYBE IF I DID COME AT YOU, YOU'D SEE THAT YOU'RE NOT!"

"YEAH, RIGHT!" I grin. "BRING IT ON!"

He charges at me, and already I can see so many faults. He's all buff, no tactic. It makes it an easy job for me. It's almost like a dance. I aim a kick at his groin and he instinctively clutches at it with pain. I sidestep away as he angrily comes at me again and finish off with a roundhouse kick to the stomach, leaving him sprawling.

"Josh," I say, lowering my voice into a hoarse whisper. "Just look at us. It's not working anymore. I'm sorry – I really am – but we're over."

He looks up at me with a bit of sadness in his eyes, and says, "Do you think it's for the best?"

I nod, tears forming in my eyes. His eyes, on the contrary, harden and he withdraws into his angry shell, the personality I never even knew until a few days ago.

"Fine then!" he snaps harshly. "That's what I wanted anyway!"

"Fine!" I retort angrily and stomp on his hand (which gives a satisfying crunch) and I start to turn away.

"What happened here?" Bex runs up to me, and when she sees Josh lying on the floor, she smiles. "Finally you got an opponent who wasn't me, Abby, Liz or Macey! Congrats!"

"You go, girl!" Macey high-fives me, while Liz looks troubled.

She says, "Abby's not going to be that happy about this, you know…"

"How about we run, before the head catches us?" I suggest. We all break for it.

When we finally arrive back at school, we're prepared. Liz has hacked into the school's security and deleted the part where the fight happened. We've figured that we can get away with saying we went to welcome our aunt back from her business trip, because Gallagher let us do that when we were there and we didn't know we're not allowed to here.

To be honest, I'm not all that sad about the whole breakup with Josh. I mean, now I see we were simply not meant for each other. We were too different, too opinionated. The spark between us just wasn't there. I can see it now.

In fact, I feel kind of relieved, like a huge weight has finally been lifted off my shoulders. Although the break up went badly, it could have been worse. I could have found out he was cheating on me, like Grant did. Or he could have just given me a text simply saying 'we're over', as inconsiderate as that is.

Yeah. It could have been a lot worse.

**Zach's POV**

The doorbell rings again. I look over at the small TV I've got which displays the CCTV around the apartment. It's Macey, for the billionth time, but this time she's with Bex and Liz.

"Open up!" Bex hammers on the door.

I roll my eyes and walk over to the door and open it. "What do you want?"

"I figured out that something was catastrophically wrong when I observed that Macey was spending more time here with her boyfriend," Liz says. "So I got Bex to threaten Macey that she'd punch her if she didn't give a reasonable excuse for it. Macey told us all about your crush and now here we are with some more relationship advice!"

"Fine," I sigh. "Come in."

They come inside and make their way to the sofa, propping their feet up on the coffee table and making themselves at home. But despite this act of casualness, I can sense (with all the CoC interrogation practice I've had over the years) that they're feeling awkward and out of place. They're not acting like Cammie would. With Cammie, she wasn't visiting my apartment, she was coming back home.

Macey begins, "So we think that you've got to clean up every day."

"You've got to prove you'd go anywhere for that girl," Bex adds.

"And most importantly," Liz instructs, "you have to reveal that you're crushing on her and fast."

Before I can say anything, Macey continues, "It's either you telling her, or her finding out and losing interest because she thinks you were too chicken to tell her."

"But give it at least three days before you make a move, because she's probably still getting over Josh," Liz says.

I attempt at speaking but Bex says over my voice, "And maybe you should start with a horribly clichéd move, like leaving a rose in her locker and a note saying it's from her 'secret admirer'. I think Cammie likes that sort of sweet stuff."

"Ooh, maybe on the fourth day, when she's completely over Josh, you could leave that poem you wrote her with the C is for cute thing. That would be a discreet way of doing it," Macey chirps and they all giggle and clap their hands together in excitement.

"Fine," I sigh. "I'll do your terribly clichéd plan. But if it doesn't work, you are _so _dead."

"And if it does work," Bex replies, all three of them standing up simultaneously to go, "then you have to treat her nicely, or _you're _so dead."


	26. Plan in Action

**Ok, just explain the whole 'if Zach does the poem thing, she'll think its Josh thing', I know it doesn't make sense right now, but everything will become clear soon. The genius Macey ALWAYS has a way! Thanks to anyone who pointed that out though!**

**This is a slightly longer chapter than the last few, to make up for all the short chapters before.**

**Love,  
J**

**Cammie's POV**

"Come _on_!" Bex whines. "Let's get to school already!"

"Since when were you so excited about school?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Macey shoots a meaningful glance towards Bex while Liz explains to me, "Uh… she's excited for cheerleading trials."

"Yeah right," I drawl sarcastically. "Besides, cheerleading trials are after school, not before it."

"So?" Bex retorts. "I can still be excited, right?"

I narrow my eyes at my three best friends who are smiling innocently back at me. "You three are… up to something, aren't you? Spill."

"No!" Liz exclaims defensively. "You'll find out soon enough anyway."

"I hate you all!" I groan playfully, as we walk out the door and start jogging down the stairs to Zach's place. I quickly ring his doorbell, but there's no answer.

"He's not home," Macey explains.

"Dammit!" I face palm. "I should've known you'd involve Zach in your secret evil plan!"

The three of them look at each other guiltily.

"Whoa!" I exclaim as I open my locker. It's full of beautiful roses and they're all tumbling out into the corridor. Even though it's messy, it's really sweet of whoever did that for me. The smell's amazing too. The beautiful roses' aroma is making me feel so happy. It's so clichéd, but that's why I love it. It's like a fairy tale.

"I think he went a tad overboard," Bex whispers to Macey behind me.

"Ya think?" is Macey's sarcastic reply, before she walks off. "I'm going to have a talk with that guy!"

"Cammie, there's a note!" Liz reaches into the locker and hands me a piece of paper. Scrawled on it in a handwriting I don't recognise are the words:

_Roses are red,  
Violets are blue,  
I hate writing poems,  
But for you, I do._

_From,  
Your Secret Admirer._

"Aw!" I squeal, tears of happiness forming in my eyes. "I've got a secret admirer! Oh my God, I've _got _to tell Zach!" Bex and Liz look at each other and burst out laughing. I ask them grumpily, "What?! What's so funny?!"

"Nothing," Bex chortles. "Just go and tell Zach already."

* * *

**Zach's POV**

I'm nervous as I walk to my locker, having just left Cammie's locker, which is now full of roses, freshly bought this morning. The shopkeeper had thought I was a lunatic, buying so many roses. I literally bought the whole shop! But what if she doesn't like the roses? Was it a bit too much? Man, that girl is making me crazy.

"Hey, Zach," Grant beckons me over. "You look weird. Like you're worried or something. Girl problems?"

Damn. That girl can even make my mask of emotions fall down. And she has no idea about it either.

"Yeah," I roll my eyes, trying to look casual. "Dude, it's cool. Don't sweat over it. It's just this girl-"

"It's Cammie, isn't it?" he interrupts.

"How did you-?" I start before stopping myself. "I mean, what are you talking about?"

"It's obvious now," Grant shrugs. "I mean, when you first came to Roseville you were this zombie. Like one of those people who go round pretending they're spies or assassins or something." Not just pretending… "But then Cammie came and _boom! _You're like a normal person. Whenever she comes in the room, you just brighten up. Then you stopped dating altogether."

"That's not true," I try laughing it off.

Grant shakes his head. "Yeah it is. That's the reason I did that bet with you to see if I could hook up with her – so I could make you jealous and get the courage to ask her out yourself. I was only going to go out with her once."

"Then why did you stay with her?" I asked, slightly angry.

"Because I kind of liked her more than I thought I would," Grant explains, looking embarrassed.

"But less than you like Bex," I retort, feeling heated even though Grant's just being honest. I guess it's because I'm still a bit pissed off that he cheated on Cammie.

"Yeah," he mumbles, before shrugging. "It's not my fault. Who could resist that hot body?"

Suddenly Macey strides up to me and pokes me in the chest, but she's beaming happily (something that doesn't happen often), letting me know that she's not being serious. "Zach, when I said go ahead with the whole roses idea, I didn't mean fill her locker up to the brim! There's literally a flood in the corridor!"

"Wait, let me get this straight," Grant interrupts, slowly spreading into a grin too. "Zach actually made a move?"

Macey nods and Grant claps me hard on the back, saying, "Dude, that's great! Now you won't be that soppy loser anymore!"

I thump him on the back, as Cammie comes bouncing into the room, Bex and Liz collapsing in laughter behind her. Cammie sees me and jumps over a table towards me.

"Zach, you will never ever ever ever ever ever _ever _guess what just happened!" she squeals excitedly, her cheeks flushing a slightly pink colour adorably. "I opened my locker and found LOADS of roses in there and a poem from my 'Secret Admirer' in it! How sweet?!"

"That's nice of whoever it was," I smile back at her. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah!" she nods enthusiastically. "It's amazing! I never thought I'd have a _secret admirer _before! I mean, those are reserved for Liz, Bex and Macey, right?"

"Um…" is my dumb reply. You can't blame me though. If I say 'yes', that would be saying that she isn't pretty, but if I say 'no' that would be admitting she _is _pretty and my cover would be blown. Maybe.

Cammie suddenly starts panicking. "Oh God, what if it's someone I totally don't know? That would be so horrible for him. Or what if it's a _girl_? I don't have anything against gays or lesbians, but I'll have to say 'no' if they ask me out and I hate making other people sad! Or what if it's Josh? Oh God, that would be so bad for him, because I'd have to tell him I don't love him anymore!"

"I can assure you, it's not-" I start, but she's already rushing out of the door. I sigh and everyone else looks at me sympathetically.

Macey says simply, "I didn't think she'd react like that… I guess I forgot that being Cammie, she'd be totally unselfish and she'd think about what everyone else will think."

We all have to agree with that.

"Look, how about we cut down the three day rule by two days," Liz suggests.

"That way," Bex explains, "we can cut all that unselfish drama of Cammie's."

"Besides," Macey adds, "Cammie doesn't apply to that rule. She is _totally _over Josh. She isn't just pretending."

Then a sly grin starts to form on Macey's face, which can only mean she's making a cunning plan. When I ask her about it, she just shrugs and says it's nothing.

Yup, definitely a cunning plan.

* * *

**Mace's POV**

"We all know this rose thing is a disaster," I state factually, after we all take our seats at a table in the library and settle down. Everyone nods in agreement.

We're at our 'How to get Zach and Cammie together' session, which not only consists of Zach, Bex, Liz and me, but now also includes Grant (because Bex dragged him along), Jonas (because Liz dragged him along and because he's always in the library anyway), Dillon (because I dragged him along), and Dee Dee (because she wanted to see two of her best friends getting together, but mostly because Dillon decided that if he had to go through this torture, he would take Dee Dee down with him). We haven't invited Josh, because according to Dee Dee, he's still angry with Cammie for beating him in that fight. Cammie's not here because we sent her off with some girl who looked so privileged to be talking to us that I'm pretty sure she'd listen to our instructions about sending Cammie on a wild goose chase around the school.

"So," I continue, "I've improved it. After school, when we're at cheerleading trials, we'll keep getting Cammie to look at Zach. Grant and Dillon, you've got to stay behind Zach at all times, so Cammie is forced to look at Zach when I say 'Dillon is so hot' and when Bex says 'check out Grant's muscles'." This has Bex blushing, but I'm perfectly unfazed. I carry on, "Zach, when Cammie looks your way, you've got to take off your shirt or something. Don't look directly at Cammie. Meanwhile, Dee Dee, you'll be with Josh, trying to flirt with him and get a date before he goes to swimming practice. If he doesn't do it because he likes you" – this has Dee Dee blushing – "then subtly remind how jealous Cammie will be if she finds out you two are dating. After Josh's swimming practice is over, go to the car park at 5:30 and get Josh to kiss you, which he'll probably do when he sees Cammie staring at him. Then come running up to us and tell us about your date, even if you didn't manage to get one. So Cammie will see her secret admirer isn't Josh and that Zach doesn't like Dee Dee… in that way."

Dee is blushing furiously now, while Grant snickers (does he snicker at everything?) and Bex thumps Grant on the back for snickering.

Relentlessly, I say, "Tomorrow, Jonas will go up to Cammie and give her a note which will tell her to meet up with her at the Chez Roseville at 8:00. Liz, who's got the most classes with Cammie that day, will convince her to go. If she really doesn't go, Liz, you can tell her that you know who her admirer is and that he's a great guy, but no matter what, do _not _tell her it's Zach. Then she'll go to the restaurant and see it is Zach, who'll confess he likes her and give her the poem. Happily ever after. The end."

There's a moment of silence before Grant wolf whistles. "That is one heck of a plan."

"She really _is _a genius," Bex agrees.

"So everyone's in?" I clarify.

Dee Dee grins. "You betcha!"

* * *

**Dee Dee's POV**

"Hey Josh," I smile my most seductive smile, which didn't really work until Macey showed me how to do it earlier today. I really hope this plan works. Cammie will be happy. Zach will be happy. I'll be happy. Josh will be happy. It's a perfect plan!

"Oh, hi Dee Dee!" Josh says breathlessly, though I'm sure it's because he's in a rush, not because of my smile, since he didn't even look up at me.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you were free on Saturday," I started, trying to keep up with Josh's brisk walk. "You know, we could catch a film."

"As a date?"

"You could call it friends if you want, but I don't really think friends kiss each other," I retort.

He finally looks up at me. Intently. "I thought you hated me. You called me an possessive jerk!"

"Yeah, well that was then," I shift slightly closer to him. "And this is now."

"I don't understand," Josh scrunches his face up as though trying to work out a puzzle. "Why did you change your mind?"

"Well, the truth is," I sigh, "I only broke up with you because I thought you and Cammie were a better match than you and I are."

"You were way wrong about that," he rolls his eyes. "Me and Cammie haven't really worked since last year."

"Yeah, I know that now," I break into a smile again. "So is the date on or not?"

"On," he smiles.

"Great," I say, pecking him on the lips.

I'm about to turn away, when he catches my arm and pulls me in for a long, much deeper kiss. I love it. I feel like jumping up and down in excitement. It's amazing.

Mission accomplished.

* * *

**Cammie's POV**

"Are you excited for cheerleading?" Macey asks, as she ties the laces of her trainers/sneakers.

"You bet I am!" I reply, adjusting the height of my ponytail so it swings more. "But I'm still kind of annoyed that girl – what's her name again? Annie? – dragged me all around the school to help me find my cheerleading skirt. She even took me to the biology labs. Why would my cheerleading skirt be in the labs anyway? Then it turns out it was in Bex's locker the whole time! Why was it in your locker, Bex?"

"You told me to wash it, remember?" Bex prompts, though I don't remember. Just to make her feel better though, I nod and tell her I _do _remember.

"Let's go!" Liz jumps up and down, waving about her pom-poms. "Tina said the trials are starting right now!"

There's a stampede as everyone rushes out of the changing rooms and onto the side of the pitch, none of them wanting to be the last one and all of them wanting to be on Tina's good side. Soon we're the last in the changing rooms, so we decide that we couldn't care less what Tina thinks about us. If we're amazing, then Coach Wallow will put us on the team, regardless of what Tina thinks.

A few minutes later, were awaiting our turn while everyone takes turns doing individual dances. We're last in the queue of about fifty girls.

"OMG, have you _seen _Grant's muscles?" Bex swoons slightly.

That was weird. With Bex's hard-core shell, you don't often see her swooning. I suppose there's a first time for everything.

"Where is he?" I ask, before I can stop myself. I know Grant and I aren't an item anymore, but I've never seen him playing before and I can't help but wonder what he looks like out on the pitch.

"Behind Zach," Bex sighs happily.

"Um, ok…" I reply. I can't see Grant at all. Well, I can tell he's behind Zach, but I can't see him, because Zach's in the way.

I can live with that. Zach looks like a natural on the pitch, scoring perfect goals into the net every couple of seconds as he was passed the ball by Dillon in their drill. It was kind of obvious that he was showing off to us girls, but to which one in particular I had no idea. Hopefully it was his secret crush. Wait, does he still have that crush? He got together with Dee Dee in the end, so why is he still showing off to all of us?

That boy is full of mysteries.

Then he takes off his shirt. I can't help but swoon a bit at his abs – no one can, except for Macey and Bex, who are too busy staring dreamily at their own boyfriends, and Liz, who is doing homework. His chest is so beautiful and tanned; there's no other way possible of describing it. He looks seriously amazing without that shirt and… Wait a second! Has Zachary Goode _actually cleaned up_?! I thought that was just a one-time only thing! His hair is slightly gelled and you can tell he's showered properly for the second time. His emerald eyes shine brighter than ever before.

He is _hot. _

I don't know why, but I can't help looking at him every so often. My eyes just keep flickering towards him instinctively and I have to physically force myself not to look at him and his heavenly body. It's no use. I keep looking at him anyway. Why am I like this? Friends don't keep looking at their friends who think they're just friends! I shouldn't be staring at Zach like that and every time I do, a wave of guilt and shame washes over me. Every time it's like agony, because I know that liking Zach, my best friend, will only cause me pain. Watching him now, I realise that I really like Zach, as more than friends, and have for a while now, ever since we became friends back in September. He's got this vibe about him that draws me to him, though I thought that was part of the friendship package at the time. Now I realise it wasn't.

I recall that whenever he walked into the room, I was instantly happy. It was such a small detail that I didn't notice it before – it was just a flutter, usually. With Zach, I've always been willing to share my secrets. We've had our serious times, but somehow, even if it's a serious conversation, we always manage to share a laugh. It's so free and easy to talk to Zach, and I thought that was just been the way Zach is, easy to talk to anyone.

But I was wrong. I was _so _wrong.

It's a miracle when Tina finally calls, "Next!" and I walk in front of her. Hopefully this will distract me from the hot boy behind me.

As I start cheerleading, dancing the routine they made us learn, I try to push Zach out of my mind. The flips require a lot of concentration and if I don't get into the cheerleading squad, I'll kill Zach, no matter how hot he is.

* * *

We're walking back into the parking lot, after the cheerleading trials. Bex and Macey were amazing, just like you'd expect, and Liz was a bit tipsy, but you'd expect that too. I turned out just fine, except for this one moment when I stumbled a bit, because of Zach popping into my mind suddenly.

"Looks like Josh got over you fast," Macey drawls.

I turn around and see Josh and Dee Dee kissing. They both look happy. But I really couldn't care less about Josh's love life.

"See you tomorrow at school, Dee Dee," Josh says breathlessly as they break apart.

"Yeah, see you," Dee Dee replies, just as out of breath as Josh, if not even more. She then happily skips towards us. "Guess what?!" she squeals. "Josh asked me out! Well, I asked him out, but still!"

For some reason, Macey shoots a meaningful glare towards Dee Dee and Bex pointedly steps on Dee Dee's toes.

"Ow!" she yelps, before rushing away.

"Ok, something's _definitely _going on," I say. "Anyone care to tell me?"

"Nope," Macey says, popping the 'p' as she steps daintily into the car.

I sigh as I follow her in.


	27. The Ending!

**Sorry I haven't updated for a while, but this is the ending so I wanted to spend extra time on it!**

**It's the ending everyone so get ready! (I might add an epilogue later, but so far, this is the ending!) I really really really enjoyed writing this fic and I hope you've enjoyed reading it! Thank you to anyone who reviewed or followed favourited or even bothered to read this story.**

**Love,  
J**

**Cammie's POV**

The world comes rushing back to me too fast, too quickly. I really do _not _want to force myself up this morning, but thanks to Macey, Liz and Bex's wake up calls, I'm used to waking up at four o'clock in the morning and now I can't stop.

Hold that thought. Had I really woken up by myself? Every single day I have to wake up to Macey throwing a bucket of freezing water on me or Bex flipping me onto the floor painfully or Liz experimenting her newest wake up alarm/electric shock wave contraption on me. Even Abby contributes by threatening to make me spar her or Bex instead of Zach. But today is different. I've woken up by myself – I'm still alone in this room and I'm still lying in this bed without anyone torturing me. I can lie in here peacefully.

So that's what I do, until I hear a groaning sound from the kitchen and then the faint sound of a guy talking, whose voice was too rough to be Zach's. It's 05:12 so there's no reason for any guy to be here except for Zach. And wait a second. Why am I on the bed anyway? I usually sleep on the sofa with my best friends. Feeling suspicious, I silently pad towards the door, wondering what the hell is going on. As I near the door, I can finally hear something.

"What are all these roses doing here?" someone asks.

"Oh, when Cammie had to clear all the roses from the locker up she arranged them around the apartment instead of throwing them away," someone – Bex – explains.

A collective "aww!" ripples through a group of people's voices, about four girls and four guys. Then another voice says excitedly "I think the plan's working" and I figure out it's Dee Dee. That makes me guess that the group consists of Liz, Jonas, Grant, Bex, Macey, Dillon, Zach and Dee Dee.

"Remind me why we have to be here," someone yawns, who I distinguish is Dee Dee.

Macey sighs exasperatedly. "We've got to go over the plans and everything-"

"Wait a second," Dillon says suddenly. "How the hell did you get into our rooms? I mean, I'm pretty sure my dad wouldn't let you into the house at four thirty in the morning."

"I climbed through the window," Macey explains. "Anyway-"

"Stalker!" Grant says loudly, earning some 'shhh's from everyone else.

"Be quiet!" Macey snaps, starting to lose her patience. "So all we need to do is-"

That's all I get to hear before my bedroom door suddenly swings open and I collapse into the corridor. Looking up, I see Bex standing over me with an amused expression. She's grinning, but she's also looking slightly panicked as though she's worried I might have hear something important.

"Someone's been a nosy parker, haven't they?" she says, cocking a hip and calling for everyone else to shut up, because I am awake. "How much did you hear?"

"Basically nothing," I shrug, pulling myself painfully into a sitting position. "You were all fooling around."

She narrows her eyes, scrutinizing my facial expression as I fidget under her gaze. Finally she lets it go, choosing to trust me. Then she walks back towards the group. I stalk over to them too, this time with an angry, miffed expression.

"What were you talking about?" I demand loudly, staring at all of them, thinking and calculating.

"Just about your crush," Macey shrugs. Everyone else looks at her, horrified, but relieved, as though they can't believe she revealed what they were talking about… or what they were _sort of_ talking about, judging from the Roseville kids' expressions.

"What crush?" I ask curiously. "I don't remember having a crush…" Then I realise they must have figured out my feelings for Zach and turn beet red. How embarrassing, Zach's in this room with me.

"Told you she's got a crush," Macey grins at the rest of the group, who nod and smile slyly at each other.

* * *

"Hey Cammie!" Jonas hurries towards me in the corridor. Many of the other boys are looking at him jealously because he's one of my friends, while they're just guys watching me and wishing they could talk to me. It makes me smile. Sometimes, being popular feels good and it's times like this, where everyone's watching you with awe that just makes my day. That's not to say it's not hard work though. It may be easy just to be popular, but to be popular _and _nice to everyone? That's back breaking. It's times like that, where I have to keep my happy face on even if I'm feeling especially moody and I'm on PMS, that just ruins my day.

"Hey Jonas," I greet back. "What's up?"

"Oh, it's just another note from your secret admirer," Jonas shrugs, but he's smiling as though a plan is sliding into action.

"A note?" I exclaim, smiling happily. My secret admirer, whoever he is, is the best! He's so sweet and I love all the roses he sent me yesterday. I hope he's that sweet in real life. At least I know it's not Josh. He looked truly happy kissing Dee Dee yesterday.

"Yeah, your secret admirer gave it to me to give to you," he explains, again shrugging.

I look up and down the corridor. Any of these boys who are studying my expression right now could be my secret admirer. In fact, anyone in the school could be my secret admirer! I slowly open the note and break into an even bigger smile. It reads:

_Dear Cammie,_

_Today's the lucky day where you get to see who I am! Meet me at 20:00 at the Chez Roseville._

_Love you,  
Your secret admirer_

I get to meet him at last! I'm so happy that I feel like jumping up and down, which I do, all the way to the classroom.

* * *

**[The moment you've all been waiting for – 20:00]**

I've figured out that Macey, Liz and Bex are in on this plan to set me up on this blind date. All day, Liz has been asking me whether I'm sure that I'm going or not or subtly dropping it into the conversation. Most girls wouldn't see the way Liz has been going about it the whole day, but I'm not like most girls. I'm a Gallagher girl. I'm trained to, as Mr Solomon says, 'notice stuff'. Dee Dee, Jonas, Grant and Dillon weren't surprised when I told them about how I'm going on a blind date tonight. They looked happy, but not surprised at all. Even Zach, with his extensive training, had a bad time trying to cover up. Macey and Bex had my outfit planned and ready for me even before I walked into the apartment after school.

If I was in any other circumstance, I would be annoyed with them. They know who my admirer is – heck, they've even told me about how they know who he is and they've told me he's 'safe'! – and they're not telling me the identity.

But I'm not in any other circumstance. In a minute, I'll know who he is anyway!

"Hello," the waiter greets me as I walk in through the posh glass doors. "Table for two?"

"No, my date's already here, I think," I reply smoothly, as though I'm on a covert operation instead of a blind date. "It's a blind date?"

"Ah," the waiter nods. "Are you Cammie Morgan?"

"Yes."

"This way please," he leads me towards a table with a rose in the middle, before leaving us. There's a guy in a smart tux, his head hidden behind a menu. His hair looks the same colour as Zach's (STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM!), but that's not too uncommon, because there are quite a few people I know with the same shade of hair colour.

"Hello, Cammie." My breath catches. I know the voice before I see the face. It's Zach's. His hair was his hair, not some other guy with the same colour. His beautiful green eyes as beautiful as always. In the tux, he looks so different from usual, so clean. He's sexier than I ever imagined anyone could be. He's the best combination of cute and hot that I could dream of. There's no flaw with Zachary Goode.

"Z-Zach?" I stutter, before my confusion turning into sizzling anger. "Zach, is this some kind of a joke? Are you videoing this so you can have a laugh about it later? Because I can't believe you'd be mean enough to set me up like this."

I'm about to leave, when a hand catches onto my arm and pulls me back. Frustrated, I try to pull my arm back, ignoring the stares of others, but Zach is still as strong as I remember him to be when I train with him in the mornings and evenings.

"Cammie, I haven't set you up. Give me a chance," Zach pleads and the only thing that stops me from leaving is the begging expression on his face.

"Fine," I sigh and sit down in the chair. Zach takes his place on the opposite side of the table.

"Cammie, I really like you," Zach says, taking one of my hands in a horribly clichéd move, but we both know that I love clichés. "Scratch that. I don't really like you, I really love you."

"So… I'm not just one of your one night flings?" I ask hesitantly, not wanting to open up to him, in case he breaks my heart like Grant and Josh have done before him.

"No, you're not," Zach smiles faintly. "You've been my secret crush for a long time."

My eyes widen. "You can't be serious! You said you liked your crush ever since the October of sophomore year! You didn't know me then!"

"I did," he says quietly. "We'd met. You probably don't remember it…"

It hits me.

"You were the boy at the trash can, weren't you?" I ask, smiling at the memory. "I just came out of the bin and you were there."

"You remember it!" he grins.

"Of course I do. It only took me a while to remember who it was," I roll my eyes. This has to be one of our most awkward moments together, but somehow we're still getting it to roll smoothly. That's one of the best things I like about Zach and me. Then I say suddenly, "Wait a second. That means you had a bet on me with your friend seeing whether he could hook up with me. Is that the reason why Grant walked up to me on the third day of school?"

"Yeah," Zach says guiltily. "I really regret that. I wanted to be the one to hook up with you, but I thought I'd feel guilty for girl-stealing his girlfriend. Then Grant went and did it and it was too late for me to step in. I'm serious. You _have _been my secret crush since that October night," he smiles dazzlingly. "I couldn't stop thinking about you and that's why I lied to my mom about getting information. I pretended I didn't know you had a boyfriend, when you were the only thing Josh could talk about."

"Was I the reason you quit the Circle?" I ask, shivering slightly at the prospect of this _heavenly _body liking _me, _a mere mortal.

He nods, grinning even more, "You're the biggest reason."

"Was I really that oblivious?" I start to smile too. The whole situation is quite ludicrous, really.

"Hell yeah, you were!" he grins.

I pondered for a moment. "Then why didn't you tell me before?"

"I told you why," he says. "I didn't have the courage to tell you."

"But… why me?" I ask. "There are loads of other better fish in the sea, right?"

"I love you for who you are," Zach smirks at me, as though it's _me _confessing that I like him, not the other way around. "I love how you're so modest and how you don't know how pretty you are. You're the perfect girl. You're clever, you're pretty, you're great personality wise, and you're a spy, like me. That's why."

"Do you really think all that stuff about me?" I ask hesitantly. "Are you sure you have a crush on me?"

The smirk is wiped straight off his face. "What? Do you not want me to like you?"

"Of course not!" I reply, almost bursting into tears of happiness. "You've got no idea how much I've been hurting! I didn't want to let myself like you, because that would be mega awkward for you!"

"Cammie, you really were oblivious, weren't you?"

I smile, holding back even more tears. "I really, really, really like you, Zach, and I think I always have, even if I didn't know it."

"Are _you _serious?"

"I'm serious," I try to contain my giggles at how crazy the situation is.

"Yeah, says the girl who is laughing," he laughs back, before looking at me serenely.

"Um, so are we an item?" I ask nervously, fidgeting with my sleeves.

"For a spy, you really aren't that clever," he laugh, standing up. He takes my hand and pulls me up too, drawing the attention of everyone in the restaurant. I wonder what he's doing. But instead of pulling me up and just taking my hand, he drags me towards him and elegantly dips me. Then as his face comes closer to mine, I realise what's happening. My heart skipped a beat and before our lips met, I just had the time to smile dazzlingly at him. Our lips touched and fireworks were going off behind the lids of my closed eyes. It was deep and meaningful, but not in a rushed let's-start-making-out-right-now way. In it all my feelings for Zach flooded out: desire, joy, gentleness, ecstasy and most importantly, love. I had never felt anything like this before. This kiss made any of Josh's or Grant's look like a friendly hug. I had never experienced anything so beautiful before. I couldn't hear the rest of the restaurant cheering for the cute teenage couple, I couldn't act except wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips harder to his, I couldn't even think about anything except Zach's lips.

Well that would be lying. I knew one other thing.

I was totally, utterly in love with Zachary Goode.

**THE END!**


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